Minister of Communications and Information Technology Raafat Hendy said Egypt is keen to boost co-operation with Iraq in communications and information technology, expand areas of partnership and exchange expertise.
Hendy made the remarks during a meeting on Wednesday with Iraqi Minister of Communications Mustafa Jabbar Sanad and his accompanying delegation.
The two sides discussed ways of enhance bilateral co-operation in ICT and exchanging expertise to support digital transformation, harness technology for development and build the digital economy in both countries.
Minister Hendy also stressed that Egypt has extensive expertise in developing telecommunications infrastructure, advancing digital transformation and expanding digital services.
In this regard, he highlighted the project to extend fibre-optic cables to villages covered by the presidential Decent Life initiative, which targets around 60 million citizens.
The project aims to provide high-speed internet services and enable residents of rural areas to access digital services. Hindi said the first phase of the project is expected to be completed this year.
He added that there are promising prospects for further co-operation and expertise-sharing between Egypt and Iraq in several areas, including digital infrastructure, data centres and artificial intelligence.
The two ministers also discussed mechanisms for activating the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between their ministries. The MoU covers digital infrastructure, digital transformation, digital capacity building, postal services, innovation and entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, investment in ICT and satellite technologies.
For his part, Iraqi Minister of Communications Mustafa Jabbar Sand stressed the importance of activating the MoU and maximising the benefits of the areas it covers.
Sanad explained that Iraq is witnessing significant progress in developing its telecommunications infrastructure through the expansion of fibre-optic networks to homes, efforts to establish data centres and initiatives to attract major global companies to invest in the sector.
These efforts, he said, are supporting the development of Iraq’s digital infrastructure.
The two ministers agreed on the importance of strengthening coordination and consultations on regional and international forums and events related to the ICT sector. Such coordination, they noted, would help align the two countries’ positions on issues of mutual interest and enhance bilateral co-operation at both the regional and international levels.
