GOE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS DETAILS U.S. TRIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 004495 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ELA AND EB/CIP USTR FOR SAUMS AND AUGEROT USAID FOR ANE/MEA MCCLOUD COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ANESA/TALAAT E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2015 TAGS: ECON ECPS EINT EINV OVIP PREL KGIT EG SUBJECT: GOE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS DETAILS U.S. TRIP PLANS FOR CHARGE Classified by Charge Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) On June 13, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Tarek Kamel met with the Charge for consulations prior to the Minister's June 18-28 visit to the U.S. Minister Kamel reviewed for the Charge the trip schedule, highlighting technology agreements to be discussed and/or signed between Egyptian and U.S. multinationals - including deals for Motorola and Lucent to work on fixed wireless communications in Egypt using CDMA technology - and events designed to encourage Egyptian expatriates to invest in Egypt's information and communications technology (ICT) sector. ¶2. (C) The Minister said that his primary goal for the USG-related portion of the trip is to find appropriate counterparts for dialogue, especially in State and Commerce. Specifically, Kamel explained that he is personally close to the USG position on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process - i.e., that the private sector should remain the foundation for Internet capacity building and governance, rather than governance by the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union. If it has a strong partnership with the USG on this issue, Kamel said, the GOE can mediate between the USG and other governments in international WSIS-related forums. (Note: Kamel explained that he and Prime Minister Nazif have disagreed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) over the issue, with the MFA objecting to their stand "against the position of the developing world." End note.) ¶3. (SBU) The Minister said he also plans to include on his Washington agenda regulatory issues stemming from the January 2006 end of the Telecom Egypt monopoly, ICT-related components of a future Free Trade Agreement, and the GOE's plan to solicit proposals for a third mobile phone license within two to three months. Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. GRAY