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I am happy to address you in this commemorative publication of the World Summit on the Information Society. As an
Egyptian, Arab and African citizen, and most importantly as a citizen of the global community, I would like to express my
appreciation for the United Nations, for the International Telecommunication Union, as well as for the Swiss and Tunisian
governments, for this ambitious effort to hold a Summit in two phases. I believe this Summit has been a ground breaker on
several fronts, to better prepare ourselves for the coming period.
To start with, the Summit process has engaged the information and communication technology (ICT) sector irrevocably in
the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. These goals should be looked at not merely as one more document,
but as actual targets to be realized. ICT has been dubbed as a catalyst for positive change in both developed and developing
countries; a challenge that requires new and practical means for its achievement.
By examining the roles of the different stakeholders, the Summit process has spread a new culture of interdependence
between the concerned parties, that focuses on complementarity and calls for capitalizing on expertise wherever it exists. We
have been probing into new areas where ICT could be instrumental, learning from each other and examining different
possibilities from across the whole world.
Through the depth and regularity of meetings for the Summit process on the local, regional and international levels, the
international community has succeeded in opening up dialogues on contentious issues and removed the stigmas associated
with a number of concerns for more balanced, future oriented and transparent solutions.
By hosting the second phase of the summit in Tunisia, the United Nations and world community have rightfully re-engaged
the developing countries as full partners in multilateral negotiations and acknowledged the ability of this part of the world to
play its global role on the same footing as the developed world.
Therefore, I am looking forward to the day when our societies will put into practice the Summit’s recommendations and
build on the momentum generated by its process. To achieve this, we are in dire need to explore the potential of all stakeholders
in using ICT for development through concerted international efforts.
But as the Summit introduced ICT in the modern development debate, Egypt and its partners in different parts of the world
are facing the dual challenge of how to develop the ICT industry, and transform our societies into major innovators of ICT, on
the one hand, while disseminating ICT in our societies and incorporating it in our developmental schemes.
In our persistent quest for entrenching the fundamentals of the contemporary Egyptian society, we launched an array of
initiatives to transform it into a knowledge based society resting on three key concepts. The first component is liberalization; or
the creation of a liberal and transparent economic and legal environment as a pre-requisite to developing a vibrant ICT sector.
The second is a comprehensive multi-stakeholder partnership for development among all agents of change to ensure that the
potential of ICT is realized. The third is turning the welfare function of the state to ‘the social investment state’ by investing in
human capital. In Egypt, we have made large strides in the introduction of competitiveness in our markets, in
telecommunication services, in e-government services, and in e-learning, as well as other value added services thanks to the
implementation of these three concepts.
Finally, I would like to encourage the world community and financial institutions to adopt a bolder spirit of entrepreneurship
in the ITC sector, especially in developing countries. I also wish to call upon decision makers to be persistent in clarifying the
value-add of ITC in the developmental agenda. Indeed, the successful implementation of the Summit’s resolutions will largely
depend on both pillars. Most importantly, the success of the post-Summit phase will depend on our ability to strike an
equitable partnership between the developing and developed countries.
Ahmed Nazif
Prime Minister of The Arab Republic of Egypt
STATEMENT FROM DR AHMED NAZIF, PRIME MINISTER OF THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT