The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has met with the Acting Chairman of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) Mohamed Abdel-Wahab and a number of GAFI officials.
They discussed automating GAFI services using the latest ICTs to facilitate investment services, create an enabling environment for attracting investors, cooperate to infuse new investments at the ICT sector and promote youth entrepreneurship.
The ICT Minister praised the collaboration between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and GAFI, resulting in the implementation of several development projects in GAFI, through automating operations and services, within the digital transformation projects.
Talaat underlined the significance of collaborating with GAFI to provide the necessary training to young entrepreneurs to gain knowledge on investment stimulators and acquire the needed skills for founding startups. This comes within the framework of MCIT initiatives to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs, grow freelancers’ businesses and establish technological innovation hubs in regional universities to provide programs to foster young entrepreneurs.
Talaat also underscored the importance of enhancing cooperation to promote entrepreneurship through Fekretak Sherketak initiative, and the coordination between the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and GAFI to support the efforts to attract new investments in ICT.
For his part, GAFI Chairman stated that MCIT supports GAFI, in light of the joint cooperation to carry out projects for automating investor services and e-signature. Abdel-Wahab added that he looks forward to more cooperation and coordination with MCIT in different areas, especially in developing interactive databases for companies and investors, raising awareness of the facilities rendered to investors and infusing new foreign investments in the ICT sector.
The meeting discussed the key achievements of the projects implemented in cooperation between MCIT and GAFI, the most prominent of which is automating GAFI and free zones. This comes within the national plan to improve the services rendered to investors to increase the return on investments, open new markets and create a competitive environment for investors.
The two sides also discussed launching investment services as part of the government e-services, along with notarization, traffic and ration card services, that will be made available to Egyptians, nationwide, during the first half of the current year, within the framework of building digital Egypt strategy.
Moreover, they discussed collaboration in e-signature services, with the e-signature system put into force at the main Investors Services Center (ISC) between GAFI staff and investors. The system has also been introduced in the first phase of the digital transformation project in Port Said City.
The two sides discussed the significance of collaboration to provide training for GAFI technical staff on modern technologies used for development, to build and improve their capacities.
This is in addition to collaborating to include investment opportunities of the new technology parks in the investment map, enhance cooperation between ITIDA and GAFI to attract foreign investments, introduce investors and companies to the investment facilities provided in the ICT sector and help overcome the obstacles facing tech startups.
At the end of the meeting, the two sides agreed on holding periodic meetings to follow up on the implementation of automation projects and overcome the hurdles faced, with the importance to set a timeframe for finishing such projects.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister for Administrative Development, Digital Transformation and Automation Khaled El Attar, ITIDA’s CEO Hala El Gohary and a number of MCIT officials.
