Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received Christel Heydmann, CEO of Orange, on a visit to discuss cooperation in the communications and information technology sector. The meeting was attended by Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Raft Hendi, and Orange's Executive Director for the Middle East and Africa, Yaser Shaker. The President's meeting with Heydmann focused on enhancing collaboration with Orange in areas such as digital transformation and technological development.
The President praised Orange's success in Egypt, particularly in services, digital transformation, smart platforms, community development, and digital education. He expressed Egypt's desire to increase Orange's investments in the Egyptian market, citing the country's promising growth and expansion opportunities. The President also highlighted Egypt's initiatives to develop the skills of its youth and enable them to utilize modern technologies.
Heydmann expressed her honor in meeting the President and noted that Orange's success in Egypt, in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, serves as a model for other countries in the region. She praised the Egyptian government's efforts to support start-ups across various governorates and appreciated the state's initiatives to develop youth skills, promote innovation, and support entrepreneurship.
The President and Heydmann discussed potential cooperation in implementing the second phase of Egypt's national digital health project. This phase would leverage Orange's advanced expertise in digital infrastructure, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and system integration. The President emphasized the importance of cooperation between the Egyptian government and Orange in preparing Egyptian youth for the future job market.
The President and Heydmann also explored ways to provide specialized training programs and opportunities in areas such as artificial intelligence, data analysis, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. These programs would help Egyptian youth acquire internationally recognized professional certifications through partnerships with global technology companies.
As part of the President's directives to expand digital capacity-building programs for Egyptian youth, Orange announced that it would provide training scholarships for approximately 200,000 trainees in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity specialties. These scholarships would include international accreditation. Orange also allocated €25 million to support start-ups working in advanced technologies and committed to supporting several Egyptian universities with modern technological labs.
The meeting between President El-Sisi and Heydmann reflects Egypt's efforts to attract foreign investment and foster digital cooperation. Key aspects of their discussion included increasing Orange's investments in Egypt, enhancing digital health projects, and developing the skills of Egyptian youth in the technology sector.
Key points
- Egypt seeks to increase Orange investments in the Egyptian market.
- The two parties discussed cooperation in the national digital health project.
- Orange to provide 200,000 training scholarships for Egyptian youth.
