Egypt top attractant of foreign investment in North Africa: Planning Minster

Today - via video conference - Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, participated in the activities of the annual Habi Conference in its third session, entitled "Investing in Recovery: After the Resilience of the Egyptian Economy in the Face of Corona", in the presence of Mr. Ahmed Radwan, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, several ministers, media professionals, and experts.During her speech, Dr. Hala El-Said said that the state's intensive development efforts in recent years had a great role in resilience against the Corona pandemic, despite the relative decline in some economic indicators as a result of the pandemic, but the serious efforts for reform, the legislative, institutional reforms implemented by the state and the intensification of public investments which amounted to EGP 1.7 trillion during the last six years achieved a growth rate. The positive results achieved as a result of these efforts were reflected in the achievement of a growth rate of 5.6% in the first half of the fiscal year 2019/2020 (before the start of the Corona pandemic), in addition to the diversity of the Egyptian economy in sectors.El-Said added that all this contributed to the Egyptian economy becoming more flexible and able to absorb economic shocks and the Covid 19 pandemic, as Egypt was among a limited number of countries in the world that achieved positive growth in light of the pandemic, and was praised by many international institutions.El-Said indicated that among the positive indicators as well as the correlation of this growth with a decrease in unemployment rates to 7.2% in the second quarter of 20/2021, in addition to a tangible decline in the inflation rate, which reached 4.8% in January 2021, its lowest level in 14 years.El-Said pointed out that the state has adopted a set of proactive policies aimed at dealing with the pandemic in the framework of ensuring a balance between preserving the citizen’s health and continuing the wheel of economic activity, confirming the state’s adoption of a clear and thoughtful plan targeting all social groups and sectors, especially the groups most affected by the pandemic.This is in addition to the state’s adoption of immediate measures to support the affected groups and sectors, and the suspension of debt service payments to individuals and enterprises, in addition to the government's interest in social protection networks and job creation, by expanding the number of beneficiaries of the “Takaful and Karama” program and the implementation of the “A Decent Life” initiative for villages.The Minister of Planning and Economic Development continued that one of the indicators of the success of the "A Decent Life" initiative is its effective contribution to reducing poverty rates and providing services in the villages covered by the initiative, which are results that enhance efforts to achieve sustainable development goals, whether national or international.El-Said also noted the steps taken by the state to revitalize the economy by increasing incomes and public investments in promising sectors that represent a fundamental pillar to push growth in the next stage, and in a way that reflects the priorities imposed by the Corona crisis, such as the sectors of health services and medical supplies, agriculture, food industries. , Construction, and manufacturing industries. El-Said stressed that the state attaches utmost importance to the communications and information technology sector and the infrastructure for digitization, as part of the enhancement of the trend towards digital transformation.On the stage of structural reforms; El-Said said that the state is committed to implementing the program, which is the second stage of the economic reform program, noting that the structural reforms aim to diversify the structure of the Egyptian economy and increase its flexibility, raise the ability to absorb external and internal shocks, and transform the Egyptian economy into a productive economy that is based on knowledge and has competitive capabilities. In addition to paying attention to technical education that the labor market needs to encourage inclusive growth, create decent and productive job opportunities, diversify and develop production patterns, improve the investment climate and business environment, localize local industry, increase the competitiveness of Egyptian exports, enhance financial inclusion and pay attention to institutional development.
Dr. Hala El-Said explained that as a continuation of the efforts to achieve sustainable development, among the priorities comes the Egyptian state’s interest in localizing development, or what is called “localization of the sustainable development goals,” intending to achieve the concept of “inclusive, sustainable growth and balanced regional development”, as one of the main pillars of Egypt's vision. 2030.The minister also indicated that the Egyptian government gives priority to issues of the green economy (and green recovery) and environmental sustainability standards, following Egypt’s Vision 2030, as the government adopts a national strategy for the transition to a green economy.
“Work is underway to achieve 30% of investment projects in the state’s plans for the concepts of environmental sustainability and green economy, the rate rises to 50% in the next three years,” El-Said said.
In the conclusion of her speech, Dr. Hala El-Said stressed the state’s keenness, through legislative and institutional reforms as well as infrastructure development, to stimulate the role of the private sector as a key partner in achieving development goals, whether through creating decent and productive work opportunities or achieving comprehensive and sustainable growth.
El-Said pointed out that Egypt ranked first in North Africa in attracting foreign investment inflows in 2019, at $ 9 billion, according to the global investment report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 2020.