Today, Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, participated in the meeting of the Joint Committee of the Senate, in a session on efforts to stimulate investment in Egypt, with the participation of members of the Financial, Economic and Investment Affairs Committee and the offices of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committees, Industry, Trade, Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises, Energy, Environment and Manpower. This is in light of the study submitted by Representative Yasser Zaki on “Investment Obstacles and Incentives to Improve the Investment Climate and Encourage Foreign Direct Investment.” This was in the presence of Dr. Hani Serry El-Din, Chairman of the Financial, Economic and Investment Affairs Committee.
During her participation, Dr. Hala El-Said said that the international environment or the general context within which Egypt and various countries of the world are stimulating investment and achieving comprehensive development is characterized by unprecedented economic and geopolitical variables and challenges. These variables have affected most indicators of the global economy, most notably the decline in global growth rates from 6% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022.
Regarding the state’s most important efforts to stimulate local and foreign investment, Al-Saeed pointed to the implementation of the first phase of the National Program for Economic and Social Reform in November 2016, where the state implemented many legislative and institutional reforms by issuing a package of laws and legislation aimed at simplifying procedures for establishing projects and encouraging the private sector and local and foreign investment. She explained that the legislative framework supporting the partnership between the public and private sectors has received the state’s attention, and one of the most prominent manifestations of this is the amendments to the law regulating private sector participation in infrastructure projects, services and public utilities, issued by Law No. 67 of 2010.
The Minister of Planning also referred to the “Erada” business climate reform initiative , which aims to reform the legislative and regulatory framework to ensure stimulating business, referring to the national road network projects, the development of the Suez Canal axis, which is a global logistics and industrial center, and energy sector projects by expanding new and renewable energy production projects such as the Benban project in partnership with the private sector, and establishing new smart cities (23 cities); including the establishment of the new administrative capital and the new city of El Alamein.
Dr. Hala El-Saeed referred to the National Structural Reform Program in Egypt, which was launched by the state in April 2021 with the aim of restructuring the Egyptian economy to diversify the production structure by focusing on the real economy sectors, namely agriculture, industry, communications and information technology, adding that the program includes a special axis to enhance the efficiency and flexibility of the labor market to provide skilled labor, through expanding technological and technical schools, as well as establishing specialized sectoral councils to cooperate with the private sector in identifying and supporting the required skills. The program also includes a number of other supporting axes, namely improving the business environment and enhancing the role of the private sector, by facilitating and developing the movement of trade, creating a supportive environment for competition and organizing private sector partnerships.