Google and the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology have signed a $10 million contract regarding business and workforce development in Egypt. Egyptian Minister of CIT, Dr. Tarek Kamel came to Washington D.C. this week with the goal of reinforcing bilateral relations between Egypt and the US, a representative for the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) tells Murdok.
The Google deal was part of that, and was made for the promotion of Egyptian products and services using Google’s advertising platforms.
Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf was there to witness the signing of the contract, which occurred at a special luncheon hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), and the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham Egypt).
Under the agreement, Google is to invest 25% of the money back into the Egyptian economy. Over the medium to long term, Google’s USD $2.5 million investment agreement may include: growing digital media start-ups, incubation venture capital, angel funding of the ICT sector and potentially training students in online advertising.
“Across the Middle East, Google is focused on helping local businesses to get online and benefit from the digital economy to create sustainable local economic growth,” the ITIDA representative tells me.
A.T. Kearney just named Egypt to the sixth position on its 2009 Global Services Location Index. This is the first time it has entered the top 10.
