Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly revealed on Monday that a new strategy is being prepared to develop the industrial sector and it will be launched within the next three months.
During the Egyptian Economic Conference, Madbouly explained that Egypt needs a strategy to develop the industry, stressing that this conference provides an opportunity to meet various Egyptian industrialists and work together to develop this strategy.
He highlighted the importance of the participation of industrialists in Egypt in developing the strategy, saying: “They know very well what the objectives are, as well as the features of this strategy”. He stressed that the state supports various efforts to come up with an integrated strategy for the industry.
He pointed out that one of the outcomes he hopes this economic conference results in is to reach a general framework for the industry strategy in Egypt for the next 10 years.
This came during the activities of the first session of the second day of the Egyptian Economic Conference 2022. Titled “State Ownership Policy Document …Supporting Competition Policies”, the session reviewed a number of themes related to the mechanisms for implementing the State Ownership Policy, and the principles governing the state’s economic activities. It also discussed the competitive neutrality strategy of the Competition Protection Agency.
Moreover, Madbouly said that overpopulation is one of the biggest challenges the state is dealing with. “There may not be a need for new investments in the absence of a population increase and the stability of the population. He added that there is a major increase in the population by 2 million citizens annually, which requires injecting new investments from by the private sector or the state.
The Prime Minister added “When we were preparing the ownership document, we were keen to emphasize the application of the principles of competitive neutrality in the document, especially with regard to tax neutrality, as well as indebtedness, and organizational and legislative neutrality”.
He stressed that the goal of the state ownership document is to set a clear and specific regulatory framework, through which the relationship between the state and the private sector is regulated in various economic activities, noting that this matter concerns many investors wishing to invest in Egypt.
At the end of the session, the Prime Minister added that the state is keen on enabling and increasing the percentage of the private sector’s contribution to various activities of the Egyptian economy.
He shed light on the state’s plan to exit from a number of sectors in the medium term, stressing that the concept of exiting does not mean that the state would sell its assets. Alternatives include either a public offering of assets on the stock exchange for ordinary individuals, or the entry of a strategic investor, whether local or foreign, as well as increasing capital, participating in management, and raising the efficiency of this asset.
