The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has met with Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike during his visit to Tokyo, Japan. Joined by the Ambassador of Egypt to Japan Mohamed Abubakr, the meeting explored opportunities to enhance bilateral cooperation in building digital capacities and supporting startups and entrepreneurship.
During the meeting, the ICT Minister underlined the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s (MCIT) commitment to cultivating a highly qualified talent pool across various ICT specializations. He emphasized that Egypt’s abundant digital talent is a key factor in attracting major multinationals to invest in the country’s thriving ICT sector.
For her part, Koike expressed her appreciation to Talaat for accepting her invitation to participate in Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo (SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025), an event dedicated to entrepreneurship and startups.
She also underscored that this year marks the 35th anniversary of the friendship and twinning agreement between Cairo and Tokyo, expressing her aspiration to stronger bilateral ICT cooperation.
The two sides discussed strengthening collaboration between Tokyo Innovation Base (TIB) and Creativa Innovation Hubs in supporting innovation and AI-powered startups. The discussion aligned with the second phase of the Creativa Innovation Hubs project, which aims to establish specialized incubators focusing on specific ICT domains and supporting relevant startups and SMEs, and encompasses the establishment of an AI-dedicated incubator.
The meeting also delved into potential cooperation between Egypt University of Informatics (EUI) and a Japanese counterpart institution in areas of research and student exchange programs.
During the meeting, Talaat extended an invitation to Koike to visit Egypt to explore closely the country’s burgeoning ecosystem for entrepreneurship and tech startups.
In a similar vein, the ICT Minister met with the Japanese Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Seiichiro Murakami, in the presence of the Ambassador of Egypt to Japan. They discussed fostering bilateral ICT cooperation, especially in technological solutions, AI, and postal services.
The two ministers also explored mechanisms for implementing the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between MCIT and the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) in 2023. The MoC outlines areas of collaboration in digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and postal services.
The meeting also addressed prospects for AI cooperation, in line with the objectives of the second edition of Egypt’s National AI Strategy. Key areas of focus include governance, capacity-building, startup and innovation center support, and digital infrastructure.
The two sides also highlighted the importance of bolstering collaboration in telecommunications and cybersecurity by exchanging expertise and best practices, alongside improving postal service delivery through knowledge sharing. In addition, they discussed designing logistics solutions to drive the growth of e-commerce.
The meetings were attended by CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) Ahmed Elzaher, Head of the Applied Innovation Center (AIC) Ahmed Tantawy, Director of the Central Department of International Relations at MCIT Samah Aziz, and Electronics Industry Program Director at ITIDA Yasser AbdelBary.
It is worth noting that the ICT Minister is visiting Japan to participate in SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025, one of Asia’s largest startup conferences. The visit includes meetings with senior Japanese government officials, representatives of innovation hubs, research centers, and academic institutions, and executives from Japanese companies. The meetings aim to explore new avenues for ICT cooperation between Egypt and Japan and attract more Japanese investments to the Egyptian market.
