Saudi Pleased With Developments in Nation

Riyadh — Sierra Leone's information attaché to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has told a group of government officials, medical practitioners, academicians and businessmen in Riyadh about the Pan-African e-Network project launched in Sierra Leone a few months ago.

Alhaji Jalloh, who represented the Sierra Leone embassy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in an e-Government Summit hosted at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Riyadh, was talking on "Transformation in Information and Communication" in Sierra Leone when he gave a brief explanation about the recent launching of the Pan-African e-Network project comprising Tele-Medicine and Tele-Education, Internet, Video Conferencing and Voice Over Internet Protocol.

The diplomat went furthermore to explain about government's agreement with some of its international partners to develop rural areas in his country with information and communications innovation education, literacy, providing access to health information, supporting local businesses and dissemination of public information.

The press attaché as well reiterated at the meeting that since His Excellency the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma assumed office in September 2007, government has been providing high-quality services to its people in a more efficient, effective and responsive ways. He consequently called on Saudi businessmen and investors in the Gulf States to go and invest in Sierra Leone, stressing that the country was very stable and secured.

One Stop Shop

He added that a One Stop Shop was nevertheless being set up for Business Registration which helps to shorten the time for registration of business to the minimum of a day or a maximum of two days. He explained that it was for this reason that the government has established the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency to assist investors in obtaining licenses, permits and facilitation of registration of business enterprise.

The summit was organized by NASEBA, an information research organization based in Saudi Arabia and some Gulf States. It promotes and hosts business summits and offers professional training courses in information research.

The top priorities for governments across the world

E-Government has been identified as one of the top priorities for governments across the world. It represents a fundamental change in the public sector structure, values, culture and ways of conducting business by utilizing the potential of ICT as a tool in the government agency. It fundamentally alters the way public services are delivered and managed.