Coronavirus helped in implementing digital transformation in various fields: Egypt's Planning Min.

CAIRO – 15 March 2021: The emergence of the Corona pandemic contributed to highlighting the importance of digital transformation, and the pandemic also led to the intensification of the state's efforts to implement digital transformation in various fields, according to Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Ahmed Kamali.

Kamali pointed out in a statement, Tuesday, the need for African countries to strongly move towards digital transformation and to increase investment in it.

This came in his speech during the participation of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development in the side event, which was organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) within the activities of the 53rd session of the African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development via video conference, under the title "Industrialization in the Digital Age: Results and key insights from the Industrial Development Report 2020".

He stressed the Egyptian state’s interest in implementing a comprehensive digital transformation in all fields, pointing out that there is an increasing demand for the use of technology in all sectors.

He pointed to the importance of switching from consumers of technology to producers of technology, adding that Egypt is focusing on the transition towards digital technology production and information technology.

Kamali pointed out the Egyptian state’s interest in supporting training and vocational education, pointing to the establishment of 9 technology universities in Egypt, and that the communications and information technology sector in Egypt has enjoyed a double digit growth rate over the past three years.

He explained that the rate of government investment directed to this sector amounts to 6.7 percent of the total investments in Egypt, and the largest percentage of it is directed to infrastructure and improving the networking of the information technology sector in Egypt.

He stated that the rate of foreign direct investment directed to this sector amounted to 3.7 percent of total investments during the fiscal year 2019/2020, and therefore work must be done to increase this percentage.

He pointed to the Egyptian state’s interest in achieving digital transformation within the education system by developing the pre-university education system to rely on information technology and creative thinking.

He mentioned the Egyptian state’s tendency to establish technological centers to serve citizens to facilitate the provision of government services to citizens in a faster time, pointing out that the experience of establishing technological centers was useful because it relies on the concept of digital transformation that establishes the principle of governance, seeks to eliminate corruption, and reduces human interference in Government transactions.

He added that Egypt is also working on using technology in the application of social protection through the use of automated cards to direct subsidies to those who deserve it. The Egyptian state also uses satellite technology to monitor the status of national projects that are being worked on.

He pointed to the digital gap and its impact on the exacerbation of inequality between regions in the same country, or even between different countries. Therefore, work must be done to bridge this gap by increasing investments in this vital sector, in addition to improving the availability of technological means to include all groups of society.