Egypt eyes Chinese companies for solar-power projects, AI technology

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Fri, 03 May 2019 - 10:33 GMT

BY

Fri, 03 May 2019 - 10:33 GMT

A person bears light Bulb - CC via Flickr/ geralt

A person bears light Bulb - CC via Flickr/ geralt

CAIRO - 3 May 2019: Egypt’s Minister of Military Production Mohamed Saeed al-Assar visited four Chinese companies for carrying out a number of solar-power projects in Egypt, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense on Friday.

Al-Assar was accompanied by representatives from the Egyptian Ministries of Defense, Environment, Electricity, Investment and International Cooperation, the statement added.

The Egyptian delegation visited China Electronics Technology Group (CETC), China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC), China Enfi Engineering Corp., and China Silicon Corporation Ltd (SINOSICO) to be updated on available capabilities that are needed for the projects in Egypt.

As Egypt aims at boosting the renewables’ share from one percent to 20 percent of energy produced by 2022, the state has been eager to secure funding for projects in that sector targeting mainly utility scale renewable energy and small scale solar energy. Wind and solar are supposed to constitute 12 and two percent of Egypt’s energy, while the rest would be generated from hydropower. A milestone was achieved by promulgating the feed-in tariff law in 2014 before it was amended in 2017.

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Funding Renewable Energy

As Egypt aims at boosting the renewables' share from one percent to 20 percent of energy produced by 2022, the state has been eager to secure funding for projects in that sector targeting mainly utility scale renewable energy and small scale solar energy.




Last week, Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat held several meetings with 10 of the hugest Chinese firms’ officials to discuss ways to boost investments in Egypt and exchange expertise and technology.

The meetings came on the sidelines of the Chinese Belt and Road Digital Economy International Cooperation Initiative that was attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, Arab leaders and presidents of about 37 countries.

Talaat discussed with CEO of Sugon Lee Jian Yi the possibility to transfer the advanced artificial intelligence technology adopted by China since 2016 to Egypt.

The initiative includes deeper collaboration to improve broadband access and quality, digital transformation and e-commerce and to enable more support for internet start-ups and innovation.

It also aims to promote transparent digital economy policies and establish multi-layer communication mechanism to create a more open, orderly and safer cyberspace.

Digital economy has become an important drive for global economic growth. It can help improve productivity, foster new markets and industries as well as promote sustainable growth, according to Yi.

"The initiative will become a guide for us to push forward cutting-edge technological cooperation, optimize innovation environment and gather innovative resources," said Lin Nianxiu, deputy head of China's National Development and Reform Commission.

Bounsaleumsay Khennavong, vice minister of Laos' Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, said the initiative offered all member states new opportunities for closer cooperation and would reduce the development gap in digital economy between participating countries.


Majed al Mesmar, deputy director general of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the United Arab Emirates, said the proposal could help their digital reform and transformation as well as deal with challenges in the new area of big data and cloud computing.

The Fourth World Internet Conference opened Sunday under the title "Developing Digital Economy for Openness and Shared Benefits and Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace."

It is worth mentioning that China and six other countries launched an initiative to strengthen cooperation on digital economy during the ongoing Fourth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang Province Sunday.

Additional reporting by Noha el Tawil

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