Satyam Computer Services, Ltd. (NYSE:SAY), the leading global consulting and information technology services company, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Egypt, to set up a global development center (GDC) in Smart Village, Giza. The center will serve as a major technological development and software support facility for Satyam’s Middle Eastern customers.
Representatives from the government of Egypt and Satyam signed a MoU to establish the GDC. Dr. Ahmed Nazif, the Prime Minister of Egypt, and Mr. B. Ramalinga Raju, Satyam’s founder and chairman, oversaw the proceedings. Other dignitaries present during the signing ceremony were Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communication and IT; Dr. Khalid Ismail, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Communication and IT; HH A. Gopinathan, Ambassador of India; Eng Mohamed Omran, Chairman of ITIDA (Information Technology Industry Dev Agency); Dr. Ahmed El Sherbiny, Director of NTI (National Telecommunication Institute); and Dr. Mohamed Salem, Director of ITI (Information Technology Institute).
Commenting on this occasion, Mr. Raju said: “The Land of the Pharaohs has always enthralled us with its advanced knowledge of Science and Alchemy. The present day generation has garnered the knowledge of their ancestors and built a modern day Egypt which is as marvelous as the ancient one. The government of Egypt has prepared the economy for the new millennium through economic reform and massive investments in communications and physical infrastructure. The infrastructure is tremendous, the resource pool is talented and the corporate base is thriving in business opportunities. In short, Egypt is ideal for a sink and source strategy. While the Egyptian engineers’ specialised skills can be leveraged for better software delivery to our customers globally, the domestic market would offer ample opportunities for business generation.”
“Satyam is on a globalisation spree for the last few months. We have inaugurated our Guangzhou center in the month of November and recently announced plans of setting up the 2000-seat global delivery campus in Malaysia. Technological advancement in telecommunication and connectivity have nullified distances across the globe. This is forcing companies like Satyam to adopt a strategy that leverages the local benefits of every country in terms of resource and business opportunities. The announcement of the global delivery campuses in China, Malaysia and now the 300-seat delivery center in Egypt, is Satyam’s commitment to building up an alternate workforce, a multi-country model and a global delivery approach that offer the optimum and most customized business solution to our global customer base,” added Raju.
Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, said: “The ICT industry is a key success factor to economic progress of Egypt. The presence of IT pioneers like Satyam will enable us to transform Egypt into a thriving dynamic IT hub, as they leverage the country's skilled and abundant labor, highly advanced infrastructure and facilities as a global test bed for ICT applications, and a hub for their regional operations in Asia. As we continue to consolidate our partnership with companies like Satyam, we are confident that Egypt’s leadership position in the Information Age is closer to reality.”
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
