Egypt, Singapore, Iraq join digital transformation push

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Egypt and Singapore have announced plans to deepen bilateral relations in digital transformation, leveraging emerging technologies, following significant progress in their respective initiatives.

Egyptian Investment and Foreign Trade Minister Hassan El-Khatib met with Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on the sidelines of the Egypt-Singapore Business Forum to explore new investment opportunities and exchange ideas centered on digitalization.

El-Khatib told the Singaporean president that bilateral relations between the two countries have “untapped strategic potential” beyond current milestones, adding that a concerted effort to extend bilateral ties across digital transformation, renewable energy, and port development will yield results for both nations.

In a show of commitment, El-Khatib confirmed that the regulators have rolled out clear licensing guidelines for foreign firms keen on starting operations in the country. Furthermore, he highlighted several investment opportunities in the Suez Canal Economic Zone for Singapore, describing it as a vital trade route connecting three continents.

On his part, Shanmugaratnam hailed Egypt for making impressive progress with infrastructure and accompanying policies to power its digital transformation. Shanmugaratnam disclosed that the Southeast Asian nation is eyeing a raft of investment opportunities in Egypt, particularly in port management and digitalization.

In the meantime, Shanmugaratnam said Singapore will be open to technology transfer while strengthening cooperation in technical education to expand Egypt’s talent pipeline. In March, Singapore signed an agreement with India for maritime digitization and decarbonization amid a streak of cross-border collaborations.

Egypt’s steady approach toward digitalization

While Egypt has turned its gaze outward to pursue international cooperation agreements, the country has set things in motion on the home front. Earlier, authorities unveiled a strategy for key economic sectors to achieve regional dominance in the coming years.

In finance, the country has recorded a surge in digital payments as cash-based transactions reach a new low. Meanwhile, plans for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) are underway, with the banking regulator eyeing a commercial rollout before the end of the decade.

Iraq rolls out e-signatures

Elsewhere, Iraq has launched electronic signatures for government processes, aiming to stifle corruption while improving efficiency and productivity.

The Ministry of Communications has unveiled key infrastructure and architecture to transition government processes to digital signatures. The Ministry pointed to new data centers and a raft of training initiatives for government employees to smooth the transition away from paper-based signatures.

Furthermore, the government disclosed plans to issue administrative reforms and set up specialized centers for adopting e-signatures across all government agencies.

The government is already eyeing the benefits of the transition to e-signatures, with experts pointing to the speed of officials signing documents with the additional perk of remote signatures.

The new system is also tipped to save the government a fortune incurred from printing and courier costs. Meanwhile, the e-signatures are poised to introduce digital audit trails for auditors to identify signatures while clamping down on forgeries.

Experts are already tipping e-signatures to find utility in tax filings, business registrations, procurement contracts, and other internal approvals within government agencies. As an added layer of protection, experts are urging authorities to introduce Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and multi-factor authentication, including one-time passwords and biometrics.

Sweeping reforms to herald innovation

Despite its late entry, Iraq is making a frantic dash to embrace digitalization with a slew of reforms. In June, the country disclosed plans to establish two AI-focused colleges to deepen the local talent pool for mainstream digitization.

Meanwhile, the Kurdistan region has made keen progress with its digital ID scheme, issuing over 2 million IDs to residents. On the financial side, the country has announced an ambitious plan to launch a CBDC to improve its financial inclusion metrics.

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