A delegation from digital maps software and navigation devices company TomTom met with Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology last week to formally relay the company's wish to invest in the country.

The ministry says Minister Yasser ElKady reviewed technical and economic elements of Egypt's ICT sector along with the excellence of youth in ICT areas in an effort to encourage the company to establish a presence in Egypt.

"The ICT Minister also pointed to the advantages of technology parks sites which are located near universities, involving centers for technological innovation, entrepreneurship and training. He also added that thousands of youth are graduating annually from the faculties of engineering, computing and information technology and other areas that have a direct relationship to technology." added the Ministry.

The visit by TomTom takes place a month after the company revealed that it expects full year group revenue of around €980 million globally, down from previous guidance of around €1,050 million. The delegation is said to have indicated that it sees positive opportunities in the field of software and digital maps development.

Harold Goddijn, TomTom's Chief Executive Officer expressed positive sentiments about the company's performance following release of the company's third quarter results following their release last month.

"In automotive, we continue to make good progress in delivering our connected navigation system components to existing and new customers. Our order intake for this year so far is above €200 million, in line with our expectations; TomTom has won the largest deal available to the market this year. Together with orders secured earlier, this will support continued growth in our automotive business. This quarter we announced a partnership with NVIDIA to create a cloud-to-car mapping system for High Definition maps for self-driving cars. This collaboration is an important step for TomTom."

Egypt's ICT ministry says part of what makes the country ripe for investment is that its ICT sector enjoys advantages that include support provided by the government's Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) like the provision of technologically trained and qualified personnel and incentive packages in the new technology parks of Borg El Arab and Assiut.

TomTom is working to introduce and provide navigation services for self-driving cars as well as fitness and sports activities equipment. As part of a smart city initiative, the company announced a new partnership with the City of Amsterdam to develop traffic and travel concepts to improve traffic flow. The twenty five year old company employs 4600 people worldwide in more than 41 countries.