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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 April 2000 Issue No. 477 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 April 2000 Issue No. 477
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters IT sets the pace
By Dina Ezzat
The transfer of Information Technology (IT) from the United States to Egypt, rather than Egyptian-United States cooperation in regional peace-making, was the topic that dominated a seminar on Monday led by US ambassador Daniel Kurtzer. The purpose of the seminar, which was held by the foreign ministry, was to offer a US assessment of the recent trip by President Hosni Mubarak to the United States. However, Kurtzer had more to say, and more questions to answer, on the question of IT than any political issue, the peace process included.
It was the peace process that Kurtzer initially referred to when reviewing the three objectives of the Egyptian-US talks last month, but he apparently had much more to say about IT, which he ranked, together with business and trade cooperation, as the third objective. The advancement of Egypt-US military cooperation was ranked second. The issues that received minimal attention were the peace process and the US's need to maintain its military presence in the Gulf.
According to Kurtzer, some IT-related agreements were clinched before, during, and after the visit of President Mubarak to the US. These agreements, he argued, underline the potential of Egypt-US IT cooperation. They also will create new job opportunities, enhance Egypt's base for the development of IT industry, and build up the required IT human resources.
On a government-to-government level, said Kurtzer, "the US and Egypt have [already] committed themselves to working together as partners in [the area of IT] as well". This commitment was first made during a visit by President Mubarak to Washington last July. At the time, Vice President Al Gore announced that Egypt would be "one of 10 countries" with which the US would "deal most closely" to create and build e-commerce opportunities. "In other words, to build the capacity of Egypt to work in the field of Information Technology," Kurtzer expanded. Further government-to-government cooperation in the field of IT will be pursued by the Mubarak-Gore sub-committee on technology.
It was "government-to-private sector" IT ties that were sought to be cultivated between Egypt and the US during President Mubarak's latest trip to the US, which included a visit to the East Coast Silicon Valley. The objective of these efforts, Kurtzer told a group of interested Egyptian and US intellectuals, businessmen and officials, is "to give meaning on the ground to the possibility that we know exists for an information revolution to take place in Egypt."
In this context, the US ambassador referred to some IT agreements that have been announced, and even signed. These included an announcement of interest by PSINet in developing an Internet switching facility that would handle the Middle East and perhaps Africa. An agreement was also recently signed with IBM to train 3,000 Egyptians every year for three years at a cost of $44 million in order to create the human resources for information technology. In addition, both Microsoft and Oracle recently announced a few million dollars' worth of investment in Egypt to establish the human resource base for information technology.
But, many participants asked, how could these efforts be sustained and made most useful for Egypt? Kurtzer's replied that Egypt should do this by helping to attract more investment in IT. For this to happen, he maintained, Egypt needs to create an IT business-friendly environment. On this front, Kurtzer contended that cutting red tape was a pre-requisite, which he also cited when addressing the need to attract more US investment in Egypt.
As for redressing the highly inequitable trade balance between the two countries, the US ambassador had another argument to make: "It is your challenge and not mine... exports are hard." According to Kurtzer, this issue can be addressed more extensively in the Mubarak-Gore business sub-committee.
He seemed keen to elaborate on the military cooperation between the two countries. "One of the major aspects, in some respect perhaps one of the most important pillars of our relationship, is our military-to-military strategic tie," he said.
The US ambassador made a point of telling his audience that during the presidential visit, the US administration had been "prepared to announce to President Mubarak that it has agreed within itself to propose to Congress a methodology that would lead to an increase in military assistance to Egypt". He remarked, "We are working to make it happen this year." Moreover, while he was in Washington and during a meeting he held later in Cairo with US Defence Secretary William Cohen, President Mubarak was told of the US willingness to sell Egypt some weapon systems that would enhance the capability of the Egyptian air force. According to Kurtzer, the US, meanwhile, "continues to examine a number of particular weapon systems that have been requested by Egypt."
On the purely political side, Kurtzer re-asserted his country's dedication to working together with Egypt to give a boost to the peace process on all tracks. However, he claimed that it was the Palestinian track that would get most of Washington's attention at this stage. Kurtzer also made a point of affirming support for the planned Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, which is in implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 425, he stated.
When asked about the US military presence in the Gulf, the US ambassador did not hesitate to say that it will continue for some while longer. He clarified that this presence is not only intended to serve the "security" of the "US friends in the Gulf" who fear being "swallowed by Iraq" or "threatened by Iran" but is also meant to serve "US national security interests."
Kurtzer did not say if this was one of the "differences" that were discussed during President Mubarak's visit, which he described as "very successful."
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