Cairo: Ambassador Abu Bakr Hefny Mahmoud, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptian Expatriates' Affairs, affirmed that the ethical and safe governance of artificial intelligence has become one of the emerging issues on the international agenda.

According to State Information Service Egypt, this highlights Egypt's active participation in preparing both the Unified Arab Strategy for Artificial Intelligence and the Continental African Strategy for Artificial Intelligence. This was during the Deputy Foreign Minister's participation in a high-level session organized by the Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), titled 'Artificial Intelligence and Its Role in Accelerating the Development Agenda.'

Ambassador Hefny explained that artificial intelligence is central to the current global digital revolution, with governments planning to invest about USD 1.3 trillion in this field by 2030 as part of the international competition to achieve technological leadership.

The diplomat highlighted a number of challenges and opportunities associated with artificial intelligence, focusing on safe governance, data protection, and ensuring states' national sovereignty over information.

He also stressed that Egypt's strategic geographic location, through which around 70% of global fiber-optic traffic passes, along with Egypt's leading expertise in information and communications technology, qualifies it to serve as a pivotal bridge between the Arab and African worlds. This is particularly significant in light of its membership in AI-related committees within both the African Union and the League of Arab States.