The second day of the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) started early Saturday with speeches from several Egyptian and Arab ministerial officials.
Prime Minster Ibrahim Mehleb said the government has adopted a new vision that will broaden the horizons for economic development. This vision has included the accomplishment of political stability and giving the opportunity for the private sector to invest, the Prime Minister noted.
(Photo by Ahmed Al-Malky)
The vision also included the availability of trained human capacity and creating new legislative laws and monetary policies.
Minister of Planning Ashraf El-Araby said Egypt is targeting sustainable development, adding that policies put in place have taken that target into consideration.
El-Araby highlighted that the EEDC is the country’s opportunity to present a “New Egypt”.
Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Hisham Ramez said Egypt has taken brave steps to protect the monetary market. He added that the bank is working on creating an encouraging environment for investment.
Egypt has collected $12.5bn from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in assistant packages and deposits at the CBE. Following the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries pledged $23bn to Egypt, including $14bn from the UAE, $5bn from Saudi Arabia and $4bn from Kuwait.
Several announcements of new investments were made by international companies such as Coca Cola, Eni petroleum company, General Electric and Pepsi.
Minister of Finance Hany Kadry Dimian said the government has taken several steps over the past few months. He highlighted the latest progress made in the taxation system, saying that the income tax law was unified at 22.5%. The minister also mentioned the implementation of the property tax for the first time since its ratification in 2008.
Dimian noted that the government is working on another tax law and sukuk law, mentioning also that the sukuk law also requires amendments.
Sukuks will be issued for both the domestic and international market, the minister said.
Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf said the significant improvement witnessed by Egypt’s economy within a short time span is encouraging, and signals that more is to come.
Speaking at the first session of the summit’s second day, he praised efforts made by the government, especially regarding necessary measures taken to boost the economy, and correct imbalances in its budget such as cutting subsidies.
With Saudi being Egypt’s largest investor, Al-Assaf saw a consistent growth in the size of these investments. These follow steps taken to better the investment environment, such as the new investment law, and the resolving of lingering disputes.
Echoing this opinion, Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Jaber, Minister of State, and Chairman of the Coordination Office of UAE-funded Development Projects in Egypt, said projects financed by his country had created 900,000 working jobs, and benefited 10 million Egyptians.
“This summit is not a goal, but is a step towards building Egypt the future,” he said. “It’s one step to boost and support the Egyptian economy.”
UAE’s government has pumped a total of $14bn since 2013, in the form of deposits in the CBE, aid, and investments, an amount that was topped.
“From the support announced yesterday, I can surely say that this summit has been a success,” he said.
