Extending over 11,000 square meters, the plant was constructed in a year with $20-30 million investments. It helped create 1,500 job opportunities.
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The plant uses cutting-edge technology in production lines, surface-mount devices (SMD), and assembly, calibration, and testing machinery.
On his tour of inspection on July 22, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat was accompanied by Assistant Minister for Global Information Infrastructure (GII) Mohamed Nasr Eldin, Advisor to the Minister for Technology Innovation, Electronics Industry and Training Hossam Osman, and officials from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), and Telecom Egypt.
From Vivo Mobile Communications Co. Ltd., the tour was joined by Operations Director Jiwen Wang, Chief Engineer Senger Xing, Customs Clearance and Logistics Manager Carmen Lee Jia, and Area Manager at Vivo Egypt Ahmed Mostafa.
In his remarks, Talaat has underlined that many electronics multinationals seek to invest in Egypt. He added that the country is keen to stimulate that major industry within the framework of "Egypt Makes Electronics (EME)" presidential initiative, which aims to indigenize the electronics industry to boost economic growth.
The ICT Minister has highlighted the Egyptian efforts in attracting more foreign investments and establishing global partnerships to create decent job opportunities for young people. He said those efforts would help realize the government's vision for encouraging local manufacturing and improving Egypt's standing in the electronics design and manufacturing global map.
The plant would help transfer state-of-the-art technologies in the field of smartphone manufacturing to the Egyptian market, Talaat said.
Young Egyptian specialists would be responsible for the smartphone manufacturing process, he revealed, adding that they will capitalize on leading-edge technologies.
The ICT Minister has been briefed on Vivo’s investment and future expansion in Egypt and export plans. This is in addition to the start and readiness of the trial run of the plant, and the production of smartphones following the highest international technical specifications.
According to officials from Vivo, 45% of the components used in production are local. ■
Under an intense surge of arctic air, Friday morning will begin with the coldest temperatures so far this season across much of the central and eastern U.S. with blustery conditions and a piercing wind chill.