In the presence of the Governor of Giza Kamal El-Daly, Egypt's ICT Minister Yasser El Kady and Huawei Egypt CEO witnessed the graduation ceremony of the first batch of the 'Training Program for Youth' grant, implemented by Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), in cooperation with Huawei and the Giza governorate.
The project aims to qualify youth for the labor market and improve their skills through ICT programs and applications, to meet labor market requirements. The project features training on computer basics, soft skills and customer service skills.
The ceremony was also attended by the Minister Plenipotentiary representing the People's Republic of China Embassy in Egypt Han Peng, the ICT Minister's Advisor for Social Responsibility and Services Abeer Shakweer, and the Deputy Governor of Giza Manal Awad.
The project is within the framework of developing IT skills, qualifying young people and raising their technological capabilities nationwide. MCIT seeks to invest in the human talent as one of the most important components of national economy, through training and qualifying a new generation to keep pace with the evolving labor market in cooperation with major companies.
El-Kady said that there are several partnership agreements between the Giza governorate and MCIT, including this project, in addition to an MCIT initiative to activate the use of technological applications in government work.
Shakweer stated that the Training Program for Youth is within the framework of the integrated community centers project, which aims to support the residents of the poor and most needy areas.
MCIT is implementing this project in cooperation with eight governorates: Cairo, Giza, Fayoum, the Red Sea, the New Valley, South Sinai, Port Said and Kafr El Sheikh. 55 centers were developed, and more than 20,000 training opportunities were provided. MCIT seeks to deploy this project at the level of the Republic by the end of 2019.
Shakweer also added that this project is within the framework of implementing the joint cooperation protocol signed in May 2016 between MCIT and the Giza Governorate which includes the development of 20 centers; the development of five of which were completed as an initial phase of the project. Developing the rest of the centers is underway.
For his part, Liu stated that Huawei maintains investing in innovation and focuses on improving ICT education, in support of its vision and commitment to Egypt. He also added that Huawei always sees Egypt as one of the most strategic markets, pays due attention to human and technical resources, and focuses on enabling digital transformation and sustainable development in Egypt.
Huawei implemented the training in the integrated community centers at the youth centers of Mansheyat Al-Qanater, Al-Barajil and Nahia in Giza, which MCIT developed and equipped with devices and software.
The project is not limited to serving the residents of poor areas in the governorates but also serves People with Disabilities (PwDs). The development of the centers, implemented by MCIT, includes the provision of assistive technologies that enable PwDs to deal with computers and receive training courses according to the type of disability, in an inclusive environment. The project is also part of the Presidential Initiative to support and enable PwDs, launched in 2016, at the annual ICT4PwDs Conference.