Sales of Mentor Graphics Egypt soared to $65 million this year from $60 million a year ago, accounting for 15 percent of the company’s sales in the Middle East region, said the company’s chairman Hazem Al-Tahawy on Thursday.
He attributed the constant increase in the company’s sales in Egypt to expansions in manufacturing of integrated electronic circuits, making Egypt the hub for further expansion into the African markets. Al-Tahawy expects the company to record higher growth rates in the near future, noting that the local technical workforce has increased to 220 specialists compared with only 10 specialists in 1995, when the company was first launched.
Mentor Graphics Egypt is part of a global branch network of 64 operations of Mentor Graphics Corporation. But the Egyptian operation, according to Al-Tahawy, employs a large technical workforce that will contribute to growth of domestic hi-tech industries in Egypt.
Mentor Graphics Egypt supplies integrated circuit designs to the factories of the Arab Industrialization Authority, Bahgat Group, factories of the Ministry of Military Production, and to several PC assemblers in Egypt and in the Middle East.
The company has signed agreements with the Ministry of Higher Education through an initiative of the Higher Education Program with several universities, such as the University of Cairo, Ain Shams University, the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and the American University in Cairo.
Mentor Graphics has also signed a partnership agreement with the government for training as well as cooperation with local manufacturers through its design centers for training of technical staff.
