The latest economic reforms in Egypt are not enough, but rather one step of a thousand steps needed, said British Ambassador in Cairo, John Casson.
In a special statement to Daily News Egypt, Casson demanded that the government take more steps in reforming the quality of education, and work on reducing the budget deficit through decreasing government subsidies. Egypt made wide economic reforms on the financial and monetary level, in order to rescue its economy, which has slowed since the 25 January Revolution.
Casson added that the Egyptian government is working on increasing its dollar resources which helps companies expand, and contributes to relieving the pressure on the Egyptian pound, which has suffered a reduction in its value.
The ambassador also asserted that the investments of both the British companies specialised in exploring oil and gas, British Petroleum (BP) and British Gas (BG) Group plc, are estimated at $14bn. This exceeds the value of the GCC aid that was announced at the March 2015 Economic Summit held in Sharm El Sheikh. He said that the total value of British investments in Egypt has jumped to $24.1bn over the last five years.
Casson added that Egyptians have paid a high price in order to reach the present stage, and that they deserve the best. The British ambassador believes that the Euromoney conference has sent a clear message to the world that Egypt has a lot of promising investment opportunities.
Casson said there are British companies, both new and those already working in the Egyptian market, that plan to have a presence in the infrastructure field in the Suez Canal Axis Development Project.
As for British efforts to contain the Syrian refugee crisis, Casson revealed that Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the British Parliament has agreed to receive approximately 20,000 Syrian refugees.
