Press Release No.46

August 16^th, 2010

External Affairs Minister of India and the Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology jointly inaugurate the Pan African E-Network Project in Egypt

Hon’ble External Affairs Minister of India, H.E. Mr. S.M. Krishna and Hon’ble Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Dr. Tarek Kamel jointly inaugurated the Pan African E-Network Project on Monday, the 16^th August, 2010 by conducting a video-conference through a video link between New Delhi and Cairo via the E-Learning Centre in Alexandria.

An E-learning Centre has been operational since July 2009 at Alexandria University under the Pan African e-Network Project (a fibre-optic network to provide satellite connectivity, tele-medicine and tele-education to all 53 nations of the African Union). The Tele-medicine Centre under the Project has also become operational at Suzanne Mubarak Regional Centre for Women’s Health and Development.

Conveying his greetings to H.E. Tarek Kamel, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, President Hosny Mubarak, Foreign Minister Abul Gheit and the people of Egypt, the Indian Minister stressed that India and Egypt being two great civilizations have benefited from cultural and scientific exchange for thousands of years. Emphasising the utmost importance that India attaches to its relations with the African nations, the Minister informed that the Project aims at providing tele-education services to 10,000 African students to undertake Post-Graduate as well as Under-Graduate and other courses in numerous disciplines. The project also offers online medical consultation in various medical disciplines. Seven Universities and twelve leading Indian Super Specialty Hospitals have been associated with the Project. It is noteworthy that in a few months’ time, Alexandria University will serve as regional centre for the entire North African region both for e-learning and tele-medicine.

Expressing his happiness that Egypt is among the most active countries in utilizing the opportunities provided by the Pan-African E-Network, the Indian Minister affirmed his confidence that these interactions will further increase in future.

In Cairo, the video-conference was held at the office of the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, H.E. Dr. Tarek Kamel, who, speaking on the occasion, thanked the Government of India for its assistance and informed that the Project had aroused much interest in Egypt, which was evident from the fact that in a span of eight months, 3,700 Egyptian doctors have interacted with their counterparts in India. Already, 43 Egyptian students are taking MBA courses from the Indira Gandhi National Open University.

The Egyptian Minister said that he would look forward to the visit of the Indian Minister in September and invited him to Alexandria during his visit to formally inaugurate the project there.

Recently, the European Institute of Creative Strategies and Innovation, a think-tank centre for research, expertise, reflection and for methodological support for strategies for innovation and renewal in Europe and worldwide, awarded the Pan African e-Network Project with ‘The Hermes Prize for Innovation 2010’ for its contribution in the field of Sustainable Human Development with the citation that this “e-network is the most ambitious program of distance education and tele-medicine in Africa ever undertaken”.

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