Page 122 - SAMENA Trends - March-April 2022

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Egypt

The Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat and The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of
the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Egypt (NTRA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the
Amr Talaat have launched the United Nations Joint Team for Saudi Communication and Information Technology Commission
Digital Transformation and Innovation (UN-JTDI) initiative, in (CITC) to cooperate and exchange expertise with regard to many
cooperation with the United Nations (UN). The initiative was topics such as; smart cities, management of radio spectrum as
launched during the First Joint Government of Egypt-UN Ideation well as building capacities in digital transformation. The MoU
Workshop on Technology and Innovation, in the presence of the was signed in line with reinforcing international cooperation
UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt Elena Panova, and the Director, between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi
Regional Office of the International Telecommunication Union Arabia, with respect to telecom regulation. The MoU was also
(ITU) for the Arab States Adel Darwish, with the participation of signed in conjunction with State’s policy to uphold the process
representatives of 18 UN agencies and nine ministries. In her of digital transformation and improve the services related to such
remarks, Al-Mashat stated that technology and innovation are a process. It copes as well with the State’s effort to reinforce
key pillars for achieving 2030 Sustainable Development Goals the competitive environment of investments in Egypt’s telecom
(SDGs). She added that modern technologies such as Artificial market. The MoU articles stipulate coordination with regard
Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual Reality (VR) to many technical arenas pertaining to communications and
and Blockchain play a vital role in all development aspects, information technology. The articles also entail the exchange of
including eradicating poverty, promoting sustainable agriculture, expertise with respect to radio spectrum management, numbering
ensuring food security, combating the spread of diseases and and service-quality. Furthermore, both parties agreed as per the
epidemics, improving the quality of education, accelerating the MoU to exchange expertise and knowledge to achieve the mutual
transition to green economy, increasing productivity, raising the interests of both countries at the regional and international
competitiveness of the private sector, developing smart cities, levels. They also reached an understanding with respect to the
and others. For his part, the ICT Minister highlighted that the main features as well as mechanisms to enforce the MoU, which
initiative is aimed at encouraging partnership with the Egyptian entail the provision of consulting services in the fields of human
government and the private sector to enhance the technology resources management and development, alongside strategic
and innovation pillar as one of the main pillars to achieve 2030 planning. They also agreed on the mechanisms to coordinate
SDGs at national, regional, and international levels. He pointed joint events such as; meetings and conferences, and to design
out that the innovation and entrepreneurship pillar has been training programs and workshops for both sides. The MoU was
serving the pillars of digital transformation and human capacity signed by Engineer Hossam El-Gamal, the Executive President of
building in the strategy of the Ministry of Communications and NTRA, and Dr. Mohammed Al-Tamimi, the Governor of CITC, in the
Information Technology (MCIT), seeking to encourage research presence of Ambassador Ahmed Ihab Gamaleldin, the Permanent
and development (R&D), creativity and entrepreneurship in ICT. Representative of Egypt to the United Nations, and Ambassador
Since 2010, MCIT has been eager to develop creative solutions Abdul Aziz Al-Wasel, Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative to
and innovative ideas with a tangible impact on the national level the United Nations. It was actually signed on margin of the World
to transform Egypt into a leading regional and global hub for Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) held
entrepreneurship and innovation. This helped the country rank under the umbrella of the International Telecommunication Union
first in Africa in terms of the number of investment and venture (ITU) with the participation of 140 countries.
capital deals in Egyptian startups in 2021, according to Egypt (March 4, 2022) tra.gov.eg
Venture Investment Report by MAGNiTT. (April 11, 2022) mcit.gov.eg

Iran

Iranian telcos MTN Irancell and Telecommunication Company CEO Bijan Abbasi Arend as saying that the government move is
of Iran (TCI) have spoken out against the government’s plan to ‘legally doubtful’, while it would also divert funds away from the
impose a further 2% tax on operator revenues, which they say construction and upgrade of network infrastructure.
would hinder the development of the sector. ICTNA cites Irancell (March 14, 2022) commsupdate.com

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