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