Google Opening Middle East Office in Egypt
Angelo Embuldeniya emailed me this morning with some clues that Google will be basing their Middle East marketing & sales operations in Cairo, although they already have a Research and Development Lab based in Israel. On Angelo’s blog he states that the Arab world had expected Google to open their regional office in the elegant area of Dubai (UAE), but Google has decided on Egypt.
Angelo writes on Stravinsky’s Sizzlin’ Shack (warning, two or more pop-up windows served):
Vote for this post : 3According to some sources, a few months ago, Google Egypt hired a Country Manager (Sherif Iskander — mentioned here) who also serves as a regional manager and is now looking around for suitable candidates to fill the posts of Associate Product Marketing Manager and Product Marketing Manager. An unofficial Google page at Wikia.com details why Google should choose Egypt as their Middle Eastern base for regional operations and at the Wiki’s talk page, someone also notes the hiring of the regional manager for the Middle East and points to the vaccant positions.
It seems that although the official Google jobs site lists the vacancy for a product marketing manager for their office in Egypt, the listing fails to mention that posting may require travel between London and Cairo, the same job posted on monster.com states that the job is located in London although it is for Google Egypt. I’m guessing here, but I think that Google is planning on pushing Arabized/localized versions of their enterprise solutions like the OneBox & Google Earth. One of the reasons as to why Google might have chosen Egypt for their Middle Eastern regional office over Dubai, is since Yahoo already has a footing in terms of advertising sales & marketing operations for the region over at Dubai’s Internet City.
or Buzz it at Yahoo :
Comments
22 responses so far ↓
Jounalist on Jun 23, 2006 at 2:04 pm
They have already oppened an in the middle east - Israel
MeMo on Jun 24, 2006 at 7:17 am
yeah but the office at Israel surves the Hebrew speaking ppl only
they needed another one for the Arabic speaking countrys
Bashar Abdullah on Jun 24, 2006 at 8:46 am
I dont believe they made the wise choice. Dubai is far much more advanced and popular, while the egyptian branches in general lack the quality of the brand it represents. I for one have reported several times deteriorating quality of the product when manufactured in egypt, and have stopped buying the product, unless its straight from the origin. I can see it only focuses on the Arabic content, and not new technologies, but let some Arabic speaker comment on the Arabized Walt Disney movies we have. They aren’t arabic, but local low quality egyptian.
Hani Hamdi on Jun 24, 2006 at 12:44 pm
It is naive of Bashar to assume that Egypt will not be central to the Middle East software development boom, despite the variation in work quality he refers to.
Egypt is the home to the biggest Arab software development base. IBM has a development team based in Egypt, and Cisco is greatly expanding the scope of its activities in Egypt. Google would be seriously misguided to consider basing its activities elsewhere.
nader mamdouh on Jun 26, 2006 at 7:44 am
i can’t believe bashar build his whole opinion on egypt based on a mal-funtioning product. I agree with hani. I would like to add that egypt’s mcdonalds and egypt’s procter & gamble, among many other multinationals, export many of their products to the middle east region.
Oluniyi David Ajao on Jun 26, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Egypt is the nerve-centre of the media industry in the Middle East. No harm in locating a regional head office in Egypt though Dubai (the UAE) is also a good contender. :)
youssef on Jul 12, 2006 at 3:53 pm
iam 14 years old i live in egypt,cairo
and i love google its the best and i hope to work anything at my summer vacation hope to reply at my e mail pls thank u for ur time
Taher on Oct 27, 2006 at 8:32 pm
Great choice, Egypt has been and always be the center of arabs for many reasons.
But i wonder if there is any political reason for choosing Egypt!!
Just a thought.
Atef Samir on Oct 27, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Hi Verry Good chance for google to grow Up, Egypt … Big Market
We Welcome you whith opned arms
Pravesh Singh on Nov 15, 2006 at 4:14 am
Dear Sir,
I am Pravesh Singh. I have a good understanding with computers and networks and i will like to join the team.
I prefer getting a interviewed.
Pravesh Singh
Email: p_smartial@yahoo.com
Ph: +971502743511
Dubai.
Syed Hussaini on Dec 5, 2006 at 4:44 am
Dear Friends,
Can anybody let me know the telephone number of Google in Egypt, if they are operational there. Thanks in advance……
Sayed Abu Diwan on Dec 16, 2006 at 10:42 am
Hi;
What is the latest update on this subject. I heard offices will open in Dubai too, after Egypt.
Jacob Lot on Jan 22, 2007 at 4:24 am
Can anybody let me know the telephone number of Google in Egypt, if they are operational there. Thanks in advance……
manny barbari on Mar 17, 2007 at 12:31 am
II think they will start in Egypt for a while, then after they discover the mentality and attitude of the Egyptian workers, and how Good they are in Project Time Delivery (Joking off course, nothing get delivered on Time in Egypt it would be a miracle if it happend). IBM itself is an example, IBM Egypt are the only subdivision that signs contracts without due dates. There is a Joke about Egyptians that goes like this
IBM (Inshala) (Bokra) (Ma3lesh) which is when u are expecting a project, product anything to get delivered. They will tell you Inshala, then you go back to them they say come tomorrow Bokra, then when it is time to deliver and u tell them Were is he product? / Project? They say Ma3lesh.
It is our Mentality we can’t run from it. Give me one advanced thing that Egypt has done after the pyramids. Our Manufacturing are messed up, our economy is full of corruption and paper shuffle. Were we NOW??? Look at DUBAI and what they did with their country and look were we are. We had the Idea from along time ago “Port Said”, we have the Nile, Pyramids, Reseal, Luxor, and Aswan. We could have been way better then Dubai as far as land mark and destinations we have all the touristy resources….
At the end all I have to say. We have to try harder and work harder. All Egyptians run from Egypt instead of staying and try to change things. I hope and I dream we can bring us back to civilized country. We need people to fight back our lazy system and stop the sleep-in style that we have.
Everything is Changeable except Change which is constant.
I have worked hard and we do now have a great team in Egypt, but it wasn’t easy. It is really hard. I cant Imagine a foreign Entity starting an office here. They will go through hell to tell u the truth just to get the paperwork done.
Manny Barbari
Khalid Farha Al-Othman on Apr 29, 2007 at 2:33 am
Looking forward to join google company, and I have seen the accoplishment that google has reach, so I would like to join your teams.
I am from Saudi Arabia - Riyadh City
Minx0r on Sep 25, 2007 at 5:19 pm
I think its great that Egypt has been chosen! Egypt is by far the best place to base. You have an immense pool of IT related workers, they come much cheaper than those in Dubai and of course not forgetting that most of the IT industry in Dubai is comprised of Indians (majority have poor / no Arabic) and Egyptians (who move to Duabi for the higher salaries).
Dubai is a nice place to live, operation is a completely different matter.
Personally Im looking forward to what may happen and indeed the ripple effects to come!!
PS: Im British so no ‘nafsana’ here!
Minx0r on Sep 25, 2007 at 5:26 pm
PS: In reply to Manary’s post, a valid one indeed. However your very much mistaken. The fault is not the ‘mentality’ or the ‘attitude’, but more so the HR of the companies.
Dont get me wrong! There are some Egyptian workers that drive me nuts! from senior management all the way to the office boy who constantly asks me how many sugars… four is not a hard number to remember!
Ultimately though if you look at the advertising industry in Egypt, and the Middle East, poor is not a word to describe whats going on! When an ad is aired and its pants it should be pulled, yet we see them being churned out everyday! Yes visually there are the really good ones! But advertising is not about style… its ALL about communicating a message…
The same applies for Dubai and sadly the *WHOLE* of the Middle East… its not the attitude or capability… its all about understanding and listening… two qualities inherently missing in most graduates!
Someone please sell pro activeness and spunk on eBay!
Madeleine on Mar 29, 2008 at 9:32 am
I read almost the above mentioned comments with the pros and cons of Egypt. Of course it is a good choice despite all the inconveniences. we are the biggest market in the region and who ever wants to spread any product and gain within no time he would come Egypt. Also you should not forget the exchange rate LE>Euro !! :( I think it could be the stronger reason. good luck
slayer on Mar 31, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Sherif iskandar no longer works in Egypt office, actually google office is closed now and they are looking for a new HQ for engineering in the middle east. Egypt is still one of the options beside Jordan.
Rana Mohamed Khamis on May 7, 2008 at 4:54 am
Dear Sir,
I would like to seeking a job in the HR field in your company in Egypt.
Best Regards,
Rana Mohamed
Emad El-din on Jun 28, 2008 at 1:49 am
Hello every body,
it will be cool if we joined Google in Egypt , i am working in Thomas Cook Egypt , i would like to join Google Egypt for any position ,
please any one know how to contact with google Egypt Tell Us
Tell : 002 010 42 42 385
E-mail : emad.eldinh@gmail.com
SAMY AWAD on Aug 3, 2008 at 8:04 am
I would like to join Google Egypt team for any sales or marketing position.
tel:0020122384473
e-mail: samiazouz@yahoo.com
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