3 - Strategic Objectives and Quantitative Targets
Fourth: Strengthening the national economy
1- Increasing the ICT sector’s contribution to
GDP to 5%
3- Creating an environment conducive to
technology innovation and entrepreneurship
5- Strengthening Egypt’s role as a
communications hub
8- Enhancing Egypt’s position in ICT in the
regional and international arenas
This can be achieved through realization of
growth rates of 710% for the sector for the
next five years, a 20% increase in investment
to LE 55 billion, IT service outsourcing exports
of $2.5 billion, intellectual property revenues
of $1 billion, the growth of Egypt Post as a
primary savings facility by an annual average
of about 15%, and the development of a strong
Egyptian ICT industry that excels in software
development and component manufacturing
and assembly.
Efforts to create an environment conducive
to innovation and entrepreneurship include
promoting the use of innovative technologies
to solve development challenges, attracting
more foreign investment in innovation
and entrepreneurship, and supporting the
establishment of local companies capable
of innovation. The strategy, which aims at
creating 10,000 job opportunities in the field
of innovation, will boost and accelerate
development and help position Egypt as a
regional innovation center.
The strategy aims to strengthen Egypt’s role as a
hub for communication cables and transit traffic
by building on the country’s various competitive
advantages in the field, which include its
location at the meeting point of Europe, Africa
and the Middle East, and a large pool of young,
multilingual and technically proficient human
resources.
MCIT, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, aims at raising Egypt’s performance in
regional and international ICT indicators. Efforts
in this regard include strengthening cooperation
between Egypt and the international community
in the field of ICT, with priority given to
cooperation with the Nile Basin countries through
a technical support program and joint ventures
targeting the establishment of a knowledgebased society in the region. MCIT also seeks to
expand efforts in human capacity building with
both the Nile Basin and Arab countries through
,
specialized training programs, to boost Egypt s
role in international dialogue on ICT and related
issues, and to expand partnerships between
Egypt and countries around the world. These
efforts will enable Egypt to attract more foreign
investment, thereby increasing ICT sector
growth and creating employment opportunities
for young people.
2- Enhancing Egypt’s position as a leading
global outsourcing destination
Efforts to enhance Egypt’s position as a global
leader in outsourcing aim at increasing annual
export revenues from IT service outsourcing
to $2.5 billion and intellectual property to
$1 billion. Measures to achieve these goals
include: establishing a national network of
20 technology parks; diversification of target
markets for Egyptian outsourcing exports;
promoting greater participation from small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) in IT service
outsourcing; increasing the number of
outsourcing professionals, with the aim of
creating 75,000 direct job opportunities and
220,000 indirect job opportunities by the end
of 2017; attracting more foreign investment
through global promotional campaigns; and
maintaining a strong Egyptian presence in
regional and international fairs, trade missions
and efforts to protect intellectual property
rights and personal data.
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4- Supporting the digital content industry
The strategy seeks to develop Egypt’s digital
content industry to promote and preserve
Egypt’s culture and heritage, and the wider
Arab identity, and to maintain Egypt’s position
as a regional leader in this field. The industry
will provide important opportunities for the
creation of both employment and exports, while
enriching Arabic content on the internet.
The strategy aims to increase the competitiveness
of the Egyptian digital content industry by
encouraging the private sector to produce
and develop Arabic digital content; promoting
development of the skills required by the digital
content industry; and supporting universities,
research centers, centers of excellence and
companies in developing research and tools to
enhance digital content, particularly for mobile
applications.
6- Raising the competitiveness of Egyptian
youth in ICT
This will be achieved through various initiatives
that aim at providing vocational training for
young people and equipping them with the
skills required by the ICT sector, especially in the
fields of outsourcing and technology innovation.
These initiatives include the establishment
of Technology Homes as the first stage in the
creation of the Technology Corridor of Egypt
– a virtual corridor that will extend across all
governorates. Such efforts promote the role of
young people in development and attract them
to the ICT sector.
7- Supporting and developing MSMEs working
in ICT
Efforts to develop the role of micro, small and
medium enterprises in the field of ICT are focused
on increasing companies’ competitiveness,
opening new markets and opportunities for
production, and improving the performance of
small and micro enterprises outside of Egypt’s
main cities in order to contribute in creating job
opportunities and reducing unemployment.