The Minister of Planning and Economic Development meets representatives of some investment agencies in Kuwait

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development who is acting as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE), met recently with representatives of some investment agencies in the State of Kuwait.

The aforementioned meeting came during her visit to the State of Kuwait as part of a tour of many Arab countries. El-Said was accompanied by an Egyptian economic delegation that included the executive CEO of TSFE, Ayman Suleiman, to promote the investment opportunities offered by the fund.

The minister's meeting tour in Kuwait included a meeting with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Alshaya Group, and representatives of the Kuwait Investment Authority.

During the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said said that the Egyptian development experience has progressed through multiple stages and began with the stage of political stability since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi assumed power in 2014.

This stage was preceded by suffering due to political and security instability in the period from 2012 to 2013 when the country witnessed negative growth rates.

El-Said added that after the stabilization phase in 2014, the state developed a long-term vision and plan represented in Egypt's Vision 2030, and from it, economic and social reform programs were developed.

El-Said explained that the first phase of Egypt's Vision 2030 focused on Egyptian infrastructure and improving legislation through the issuance of the revised investment law, the industrial licensing law, the market exit law, and the small and medium enterprises law, with the organization of a revised legislative environment.

El-Said indicated that the private sector in Egypt includes a large percentage of the labor force at 85% of the volume of employment in Egypt, where many consultative seminars have been initiated by chambers of commerce and industry, investors, the private sector, universities, and civil society to propose reform plans with a focus on the productive sectors of the economy.

El-Said added that the state invests in specific sectors where it has competitive neutrality in the single transaction between the government and the private sector, explaining that maintaining competitive neutrality represents the basis of the state ownership document.

El-Said stressed that the Egyptian economy has many promising investment opportunities in various fields.

El-Said mentioned both the efforts the TSFE has made to attract investments, as well as the current projects the fund is working on, which are currently in the area of new and clean energy, which is to create industries and export them to Europe.

El-Said also stressed the importance of strengthening and deepening all forms of cooperation between the public and private sectors and considering partnerships between the two sectors as effective and innovative tools that offer many benefits, including encouraging the creation of new markets and stimulating private investments in sectors and activities that private investors previously considered impossible or inappropriate.

El-Said explained that TSFE is working to provide investment opportunities for the private sector to invest in state-owned companies to maximize their value and return from them, as the sub-fund for propositions was launched as a mechanism for implementing the state ownership document.

In this regard, El-Said referred to the Egyptian state's launch of the state ownership document, which comes within the framework of increasing opportunities for private sector participation in the economy.

Further, El-Said referred to the Prime Minister's announcement that the state had started implementing the procedures and steps contained in the state ownership policy document related to the proposals file.

El-Said highlighted the Prime Minister's statement that the number of companies in which shares will be announced will reach 32.

This is for a full year, starting from the current quarter of 2023, until the end of the first quarter of 2024.

El-Said also noted the legislative reforms undertaken by the state and the issuance of laws that facilitate the investment process in Egypt, such as the updated investment law, the small and medium enterprises law, and the creation of a favorable legislative environment.