ESCWA is holding a three-day Workshop on "Investment in the Information and Communication Technology Sector," from 5 to 7 May 2009 in Cairo. The meeting is organized in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), and will be held at MCIT premises, Smart Village B1, Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, Giza, Cairo, Egypt.

The meeting opens at 09:30 AM on Wednesday 5 May 2009 and will be attended by ICT entrepreneurs, ICT institutions managers, policymakers from investment authorities and ministries of ICTs, venture capitalists, investment companies and investment bankers, from ESCWA member countries.

The meeting aims at raising awareness on the policies, strategies, mechanisms and tools for promoting ICT investments in the region, as well as on implementation modalities for increasing ICT sector finances. It is expected to come up with guidelines, illustrated with best practices, lessons learnt and a set of recommendations, for enhancing investments and performance of the ICT Sector in the region.

Topics to be addressed include the following: Policies, strategies and mechanisms for boosting investment in the ICT sector; Public and private financing of ICT initiatives; Promoting ICT investment in the region; Venture capital, angel financing and entrepreneurship for innovation in the ICT sector; Entrepreneurial and stock market considerations; Wise investments and growth scenarios for companies amidst economic recession; Equity versus debt financing modalities in light of the credit crunch and stock market failures; Disruptive technologies for cost reduction and boosting the ICT sector during recession; Protection of intellectual human capital in recessions: Policies for avoiding layoffs in a value-based knowledge economy; Best practices on financing ICT projects and investment in the sector; Lessons learnt from the region; and Regional dimension in ICT investments.