At the concluding ceremony of the second ICT forum held in the Jordanian capital Amman between September 30-October 1, 2002, King Abdullah II has called for building an Arab Information Technology (IT) partnership in order to develop the industry in Jordan and the Arab world as a whole.
The forum, in which more than 1,000 local and international experts, advisors and investors took part, was concluded Tuesday evening having discussed the third phase of Jordan’s IT sector development strategy “Reach”, which was launched under the king’s directives in 1999.
The king confirmed Jordan’s readiness to establish an Arab IT forum that would contribute to exchanging expertise and build partnerships with other Arab countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and others.
Earlier, Chief Researcher at Sun’s Microsystems John Gage reiterated in his address the need for all to maintain continuity and electronic connectivity in order to make knowledge more accessible. He hailed Jordan for its IT accomplishments within a short period of time.
The attendees discussed Jordan’s program to transform to e-government. Officials from the ICT Ministry confirmed that the kingdom has achieved 30 percent of its plans for an e-government and that plans are underway to transform the country’s tenders which reached last year $1.2 billion to an electronic circuit.
Intel CEO Craig Barrette asserted in his address to the forum the importance of developing various nations’ e-readiness and hailed Jordan’s achievement in this respect but suggested that a lot more has to be done. He announced that 5,000 Jordanian teachers would undergo training on the integration of technology in the classroom. The pogrom spearheaded by Intel has already trained 700,000 teachers worldwide.
Callcom, a US based leading digital communication services and products firm announced in the press conference that it has chosen Jordan to be its regional office in the Middle East. Jordan’s ICT Minster Fawwaz al Zu’bi welcomed the move, which according to him demonstrates that the kingdom is on the right track for providing opportunities for IT growth in the country.
At the press conference also Mersal Co. announced that it has concluded an initial agreement with Jordan Telecom for the operation of a mobile radio telecommunications network in Jordan. The service is set to commence operation in 2004 and will provide more than 200 new jobs and direct investments amounting to $47 million. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
