Hala El-Said, the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, has met with the executive team of Standard Chartered Bank, which recently obtained a new licence to operate in Egypt. El-Said expressed the government’s support for the private sector, both domestic and foreign, and encouraged investment in various sectors, especially the banking sector, which has achieved remarkable success in Egypt and is one of the pillars of the Egyptian economy.
El-Said also briefed the bank team on the ministry’s work on several economic development files, such as the National Program for Economic Reforms, which aims to enhance the stability and resilience of the Egyptian economy by focusing on the sectors of agriculture, industry, communications, tourism, and logistics. These are the five main pillars of the structural reform program that leverage Egypt’s comparative advantages.
In addition, she highlighted the role and projects of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and its subsidiaries, which have become key partners for the private sector, creating attractive investment opportunities in the sectors of renewable energy, infrastructure, education, health, tourism, and the utilization of underutilized assets.
Mohamed Gad, the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, praised the long-standing relationship between the bank and the Egyptian government. He said that the decision to open a branch in Egypt reflects the bank’s confidence in the Egyptian economy, which is one of the most important and largest economies in the Middle East. He affirmed that the bank is eager to offer all its services through its branch in Egypt to support the Egyptian commercial private sector and contribute to the government’s plans, as well as to diversify its client portfolio across all economic sectors.
The meeting was attended by Wael Ziyada, the Assistant Minister of Planning and Economic Development for Economic Affairs, Hatem Lethy, the Advisor to the Minister for Banking Affairs, Mohamed El Akbi, the Media Advisor to the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, and Zaki Khaled, the Head of the Banking Relations Sector, and Hossam Abdel Basit, the Head of Corporate Banking Services at Standard Chartered Bank.
Standard Chartered Bank received a licence to operate from the Central Bank of Egypt and was registered on the list of licensed banks in May last year. The bank plans to start operations in Egypt before the end of this year, after completing some final procedures related to the bank’s systems.
