Egypt Strengthens Reputation as a Leading Outsourcing Destination

AUSTIN, Texas, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- ITIDA, Egypt's Information Technology Industry Development Agency, will be showcasing Egypt's global outsourcing capabilities and offerings at the 4th Annual Shared Services Exchange from June 6-8, 2010 in Austin, Texas.  The invitation-only event is designed for executives focused on strategy and partnerships in delivering value from shared services opportunities.

Egypt is one of the world's fastest growing locations for global outsourcing and services, and has seen huge investments in the last year with companies such as EMC, Stream Global Services and Sykes Enterprise collaborating with ITIDA and outsourcing their business in Egypt.  

Mr. Hossam Megahed, Board Member for ITIDA, will be leading a host of panel discussions at the Shared Services Exchange, with leading representatives and executives from across the world.  Mr. Megahed will be discussing the emerging importance of Egypt in the global outsourcing market, as well as the importance of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry to Egypt's economic development.

"The presence of high-profile companies like IBM, Microsoft and Vodafone in Egypt today highlights ITIDA's continued success at building the country's reputation as a global service delivery location," said Mr. Megahed.  "Egypt's impressive infrastructure, favorable business environment, and world-class multilingual workforce are among the many factors that attract companies to invest in Egypt."

Mr. Megahed will be participating in two discussions:

• The Great Debate: Determining whether or not outsourcing is the best strategy for your organization (Monday, June 7th at 1:30 pm CDT)
• Moving Beyond BRIC: Driving strategy out of dialogue on trends and challenges (Monday, June 7th at 6:15 pm CDT)

Mr. Megahed adds, "I aim to further establish Egypt's reputation this week by meeting with prominent multinational companies that understand the value and strategic importance of outsourcing, and seek a strategic base to operate from. Egypt has so much to offer across geographic markets and a global client base, and is well suited and structured to support both existing and future clients. Together with our clients, ITIDA is the guiding force for IT innovation, investment and development across Egypt."

ITIDA is a Gold sponsor of the event.  

Momentum for Egypt

Despite the global economic challenges that are being faced worldwide, Egypt's economy grew by 5.8 percent in the first quarter of 2010, accelerated by the 11.3 percent growth of its ICT industry. With support from the Egyptian government, ITIDA has been highly aggressive over the past five years to develop the capabilities of local IT companies, attract foreign direct investments and scale up the talent pool through joint initiatives with Egyptian universities.  Additional highlights include:

• In the 2009 A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index, Egypt ranked sixth in the world, improving seven positions over the 2007 report
• Egypt's 2009 college graduating pool of 330,000 students is one of the largest among low-cost offshoring destinations
• Egypt built the Smart Village, a modern business park outside Cairo that spreads over 32 million square feet. Currently home to 36 companies and 22,000 professionals, it is expected to host more than 500 companies and more than 100,000 employees by 2014  
• In addition to Smart Village, Maadi Park will be the BPO/ITO delivery park located in the center of Cairo. Currently under construction, the Park will be encompass 2 million square feet of prime real estate in downtown Cairo and have the capacity for 30,000 employees in over 40 buildings

About ITIDA:

The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) is a governmental entity affiliated to Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. It is responsible for growing and developing Egypt's position as a leading global outsourcing location by attracting foreign direct investment to the industry and maximizing the exports of IT services and applications.

Located in the heart of the modern business environment at Smart Village, the six hundred acre business park on the outskirts of Cairo, ITIDA is a self sustainable entity that drives the IT industry in Egypt and raises awareness among the Egyptian people of the benefits and use of ICT to advance socioeconomic welfare of the whole community.

For further information on ITIDA, visit www.egypton.com or www.itida.gov.eg

SOURCE ITIDA