China and Egypt, have agreed to strengthen cooperation in their digital capacity building, the Chinese Embassy in Cairo announced. Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang, in his meeting with Amr Talaat, the Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said China would like to work with Egypt to deepen their cooperation in the fields of digital economy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), among others, a statement from the embassy detailed.
Such collaboration is a testament to the ever-growing close relations both countries have for one another. Liao asserted how fruitful such a relationship has become.
Over the past few years, the political trust between China and Egypt has continually strengthened, and the practical cooperation has yielded remarkable results.
– Liao Liqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt
That should prove beneficial for both countries. Already, China’s economy has moved forward at seemingly breakneck speed thanks to its massive digital transformation. Its megacities should speak volumes on its progress. Plus, the Asian nation has become a predominantly cashless society, with its people relying mainly on QR Codes and digital wallets to facilitate enterprise payments daily.
Plus, China has been at the forefront of ICT. Recently, some of its key cities such as are making the most of the metaverse, an emerging technology that is considered as most promising. Recently, Shanghai used the metaverse to recruit talent abroad, a move that could be a first in the modern world.
Liao disclosed how China would lend a hand to Egypt to boost its digital economy. He said the Asian country would encourage Chinese enterprises to come and develop in Egypt. That should facilitate the country’s digital transition and social and economic development.
Egypt is looking forward to such help to satisfy its need for digitisation. For his part, the Egyptian minister praised the depth of Egyptian-Chinese relations. He noted that their bilateral cooperation in the field of communications and information technology witnessed a leap in recent years. Specifically, Talaat hoped that the two sides could further their cooperation and explore new horizons for cooperation in areas of common interest.
Indeed, the history of the two countries goes way back. Long ago, the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah sent a delegation to Song dynasty China led by Domiyat. In recent times, the Arab Republic of Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. In 2013, China-Egypt exchange and cooperation continued to grow in various fields. Over the years, the two countries maintained close political contact.
China’s digital transformation is taking great strides. The just-concluded 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics showed how digital technology can be harnessed to achieve what could have been seen as impossible years ago. Through technology during the games, for instance, a digital Artificial Intelligence (AI) translator can translate what is spoken into sign language allowing the hearing impaired to track and to a large degree participate in the various activities.
Plus, it’s definitely doing its best to foster growth in the technology sector. That means it had to ensure technology works for the common good. To do that, it had to factor rules, regulations and oversight committees so technology operators follow needed guidelines and abuses are minimised.
Definitely, Beijing is ensuring the country is making the most of ICT technology Just recently, it has formed a Metaverse Committee to deal with the emerging technology, as reported on OpenGov Asia.
