7/19/2017 - Paris: Orange has welcomed the Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology (CIT), Yasser Al-Kady, to its facilities in Paris. During the visit on July 17-18, the Minister met with several members of the Group’s Executive Committee including Bruno Mettling (Orange Group Deputy CEO; Chairman and CEO of Orange Middle East & Africa), Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière (Orange Group Senior Executive Vice-President of Innovation, Marketing and Technologies), and Thierry Bonhomme (Orange Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer; CEO of Orange Business Services). He was also accompanied by Jean-Marc Harion (CEO of Orange Egypt).

In addition to attending meetings at the Group’s Paris headquarters, the Minister was also able to visit Orange’s flagship smart store in central Paris and the Group’s innovation campus, Orange Gardens. The emblematic smart store was opened in November 2016 and showcases the Group's approach to customer experience, which is a key element of its strategy. In the 2,000m²-store, visitors are able to try out the products, interact with staff and discover many innovations through animated events designed to help customers gain a better understanding of the latest technologies.

He was also able to visit the Group’s new innovation campus in Chatillon, Orange Gardens, which was inaugurated in June 2016 by the French President François Hollande. This 72,000m² eco-friendly site brings together more than 3,000 employees across all areas of research and innovation. The campus was conceived to foster new ways of working to increase Orange’s innovation capabilities and better interact with the Group’s other innovation centres across the globe. During the visit, the Minister was able to witness first-hand the latest advances made by Orange as it prepares for the future launch of 5G networks.

Finally, a variety of meetings were organized with senior managers on topics such as opportunities for telecom’s operators in the fields of mobile money, energy or m-agriculture. Exchanges were also held on the Group’s efforts to support start-ups, notably through Orange Digital Ventures, as well on topics related to the B2B market including smart cities and cyberdefence.

On this occasion, Bruno Mettling, Chairman and CEO of Orange Middle East & Africa, said: “We are honoured to host his Excellency Engineer Yasser Al-Kady at the Orange Group’s headquarters in Paris. The Group’s presence in Egypt is of utmost importance to our future development in Africa and the Middle East, and we have great confidence in the potential for development within the Egyptian economy. This visit also reflects the Orange Group’s willingness to work with the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in order to strengthen cooperation between our two countries in a context that encourages foreign investment.”

As a result of the meetings, Orange is contemplating leveraging the opportunities offered by new technology zones, including in Assyut, to install customer service centers. Also, as part of the Orange Group's interest in supporting emerging, innovative companies, it was agreed to support and fund technology-focused start-ups in Egypt to help them to transform their ideas into reality while creating a sustainable business model.