Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, is seeking closer ties with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to develop the country’s communications, IT sectors and upgrade infrastructure.

The president met ITU secretary-general Doreen Bogdan-Martin yesterday in Cairo.

Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Amr Talaat, and ITU Director for the Arab States, Adel Darwish, attended the meeting.

During the meeting, El-Sisi underscored his country’s desire for closer ties with ITU to drive its ‘Digital Egypt’ strategy, which seeks to develop communications infrastructure and make the North African nation’s ‘gateway to the future’.

Digital Egypt is an all-encompassing vision and plan to transform the country into a digital society.

The strategy includes driving digital transformation, enhancing digital skills and jobs and spur innovation.

In a statement, presidential spokesman Ahmad Fahmy, said El-Sisi reiterated Egypt’s commitment to broadening relations with the ITU and participate in its activities, given its leading role as one of the UN agencies specialised in communications and IT development.

As a result, Fahmy said El-Sisi is looking forward to the ITU's support as he seeks to fast-track Egypt's digital journey.

The ITU secretary-general in-turn acknowledged Egypt’s role and contribution to her organisation’s work, including hosting the current edition of the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR-23) in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Bogdan-Martin committed the ITU to foster close cooperation with Egypt and support the digital development process.