US embassy cable - 05CAIRO4495

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