France and Egypt cooperate for development of post, telecommunications and IT
Minister of Industry of the Republic of France, H.E. Ms. Nicole Fontaine and Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt, H.E. Dr. Ahmed Nazif, have signed an MOU on post, telecommunications, and information technology.
The five-year Memorandum aims at considering the importance of the long-lasting relationship between France and Egypt, and empowering the principles shared between both countries. Additionally, the MOU recognizes the importance of the ICT as an economic and social tool for development.
Within the scope of cooperation, Egypt and France will work on strengthening co-operation in the key sectors of post, telecommunications and information technology, focusing on projects like e-government, deregulation, modernization of postal services, human resources training and education, and the development of IT-oriented technology parks.
During the signing ceremony, Minister Nazif proposed that a coordinating body should start the implementation activities of the MOU. The coordinating body, namely, a joint committee of experts, will work on boosting the effectiveness of the Memorandum. Its work will be mainly to decide on the annual program of co-operation, prepare and follow up on the joint activities, coordinate funding in particular within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
In her address, Minister Fontaine stressed on the importance of considering the major place that France and Egypt would take jointly in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Moreover, H.E. explained France’s commitment to the WSIS and recognizes Egypt’s efforts in this regard, referring to the Cairo declaration signed in June 2003 at the Pan-Arab Conference in preparation for the WSIS.
The French Ambassador in Cairo attended the signing ceremony and was accompanied by a business delegation of French companies operating in Egypt.
