On December 23, 2021, Mr. Ma Ben, President of the Huawei Egypt Public Affairs and Communication Department, visited ECFA, at its request. The meeting was attended by ambassadors Dr. Mounir Zahran, Dr. Ezzat Saad and Ali El Hefny. The Chinese guest mentioned that his company was present in the Egyptian market since 2000, and it has now three offices with 600 Chinese experts and employees, about 1500 Egyptians working directly and about 30,000 working indirectly for the company. He added that the company operates in four areas in Egypt: selling the company’s products of mobile devices – serving the company’s customers, whether buyers of its products or the Egyptian companies that the company provides services to them – cooperation with the Egyptian companies concerned in the field of renewable and green energy – and entering into partnerships with a number of major Egyptian companies Company for the extension of communications and information technology networks (he referred as an example here to the companies of El Sewedy and Hisham Talaat Moustafa).

He also mentioned that the Egyptian ICT market is characterized by intense competition, where many Western companies such as Ericsson, Nokia and others operate. He pointed out that the company’s work in Egypt witnessed a major breakthrough since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to China in 2014. He added that they are currently contributing to putting the “Decent Life” initiative into practice in some villages in Al-Minya Governorate. The guest requested to get acquainted with the dimensions of this initiative in detail so that their support for it can be increased.

On the other hand, he stated that he would like his company to interact with think tanks in Egypt, and that the Chinese Embassy in Cairo advised him to visit the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs due to its extensive activity in foreign affairs and its prestigious reputation, in addition to its partnerships with many Chinese think tanks, including the China Center for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS) which provides political and economic advice to the Communist Party of China. On his part, ECFA Chairman, Ambassador Dr. Mounir Zahran, welcomed the cooperation with the company to achieve the interests of both countries, noting that the Council includes in its membership a group of distinguished Egyptian businessmen and companies that can crystallize some ideas in this regard. Accordingly, the two sides agreed to communicate in the near future.