Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and Carlos Condé, the head of the Middle East and Africa division at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), discussed the organisation’s support for Egypt’s investment policy.
According to Nasr, the ministry, in coordination with various ministries and governorates, is currently working on identifying investment opportunities to be placed within the investment plan.
During the meeting, Condé invited Nasr to preside over the Economic Forum for Women Empowerment, which was accepted by Nasr. Nasr stressed that the ministry’s top priority is to support women and their involvement in all projects, especially with the announcement by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi that 2017 is the “Year of Women.”
Nasr called on the OECD to provide support for young people to establish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Condé emphasised that the organisation is ready to provide assistance in that matter.
Nasr met with the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) regional director for Arab states, Ruba Jaradat, in the presence of Peter Van, the director of the ILO office in Egypt.
The two sides discussed strengthening cooperation in the field of providing employment opportunities for young people and developing their skills through training programmes for employees, the need to raise awareness of investing in projects that provide them stability, and supporting entrepreneurship, SMEs, and micro-enterprises.
During the meeting, Jaradat presented a proposal for organising workshops to promote investment in Egypt. Nasr welcomed that initiative, noting that the ministry welcomes any supportive proposals to attract investments and contribute to providing job opportunities for young people.
According to Van, the ILO has allocated $30m for projects in Egypt over three years, having spent $10m each year.
Nasr also met with the World Bank’s mission at the end of its work in Egypt to review the improvement of business environment procedures.
Egypt assured to the mission that the government is working on implementing ambitious economic and social programmes to meet the needs of citizens and improve their living standards, and that it has undertaken a number of economic measures in order to achieve economic growth and improve Egypt’s ranking in the “Doing Business” report.
The meeting discussed the steps being taken by each ministry until the end of May in the fields on which the Doing Business Report is based. The fields include the starting of commercial activities, obtaining construction permits, electricity, registering ownership, obtaining credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and regulation of the labour market.
According to Nasr, the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation is working in coordination with all ministries to develop Egypt’s investment plan, including the variety of investment opportunities for Egyptians, Arabs, and foreign investors. These opportunities are to comply with Egypt’s vision to achieve its sustainable development goals.
