On 13 June 2022, in Cairo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, in continuation of his visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt, met with the Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt, Amr Talaat, as well as taking part in a round table discussion between the Latvian business delegation and representatives from various associations of economic sectors in Egypt.
During the meeting, Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined that the information and communication technology sector is one of the fastest-growing areas in Latvia’s economy. A solid knowledge base has been created by Latvian businesses and scientists.
Latvia has a vast experience in digital transformation, the Minister pointed out. During the pandemic, the provision of public services was ensured through e-governance instruments put in place in a timely manner. The innovative products created by our ICT sector have earned popularity among professionals worldwide, for instance, 5G routers by MikroTik, air quality monitors and spectrometers by SAF Tehnika, drones by UAV Factory and Epron Group’s underwater drones, a software platform for virtual reality training in emergency medical care by Exonicus, ID solutions by X Infotech, and others. Some of those companies are already working in the Egyptian market, Edgars Rinkēvičs said.
The Latvian Foreign Minister drew attention to the fact that the Latvian business delegation included ICT companies (Squalio, Tieto, SWH Sets) who are prepared to offer Egyptian partners their latest solutions in computer programming, data mediation, and payments infrastructure. He expressed satisfaction with the fact that Egyptian companies and officials from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology had been taking part in the 5G Techritory Forum for several years already. You are welcome to join us for this year’s event scheduled to take place in Riga end of November, the Minister underlined.
Background information
In 2021, Egypt ranked 36th in exports of Latvian goods and 60th in imports. Goods trade between Latvia and Egypt saw a slight increase in 2021, and Latvia has a positive balance of trade in goods with Egypt at 40.11 million EUR.