President says Egypt will be regional centre for digital data transfer between continents
Egypt seeks to become a regional digital centre for the transfer of data between Asia, Africa and Europe, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in a speech at China’s Belt and Road Initiative forum in Beijing on Saturday.
Speaking during a roundtable event, El-Sisi explained that Egypt is among the top countries worldwide in the number of submarine cable crossings, and is making efforts to attract more direct investments in the field.
MENA agency reported El-Sisi as saying that direct investments will help make use of the field at the economic level, and will utilise the chances provided by the digital economy, one of the main elements bridging the digital gap between developed and developing countries.
The Egyptian president also pointed at Egypt’s exception number of national infrastructure megaprojects in recent years, which he said would contribute to growth and provide new job opportunities.
El-Sisi highlighted the close relationship between developing infrastructure and achieving comprehensive development for the member countries of the Chinese Belt and Road project.
“The interlinking of this relationship has increased as the transboundary interests’ interconnectedness grew, and with the acceleration of technological development,” he said.
He cited Egyptian plans to develop the strategic Suez Canal through its economic zone, saying this would integrate with the Belt and Road initiative.
El-Sisi also met with Italian PM Giuseppe Conte in Beijing, expressing his full support for the joint cooperation between Cairo and Rome to unveil the mystery behind the 2016 murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, and present the culprits to justice.
According to a statement from El-Sisi’s office, he received Conte at his residence in Beijing on the sidelines of the forum, where they discussed a number of issues related to the two countries’ ties.
They included terrorism and illegal migration, as well as the Libyan crisis. The Egyptian president stressed the importance of a comprehensive political resolution in Libya, to preserve the unity of the country and its territorial integrity.
source: Ahram Online
