Minister Hala El-Said Highlights Egypt’s Economic Strengths at U.S. Chamber of Commerce Roundtable

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Chairperson of The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE), participated in a roundtable hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The event, attended by Steve Lutes, Vice President for Middle East Affairs at the Chamber, and leading U.S. business figures, coincided with the IMF-WB Spring Meetings held in Washington from April 15-20.

Dr. El-Said detailed Egypt’s investment opportunities, emphasizing the ministry’s role in long-term, medium-term, and short-term planning. She highlighted the annual investment plan’s coordination with various Egyptian ministries and the pursuit of Egypt’s Vision 2030 goals.

Despite facing global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, European energy crises, global supply chain disruptions, shipping cost increases, goods shortages, inflation, and climate change, Egypt’s economy has demonstrated resilience. Growth rates stood at 5.6% in 2018/2019, 3.6% in 2019/2020, 3.3% in 2020/2021, 6.6% in 2021/2022, and 3.8% in 2022/2023.

Dr. El-Said underscored the National Structural Reform Program launched in 2021. This program aims to bolster Egypt’s economic resilience, create job opportunities, enhance productivity, maximize competitive advantages, and address economic imbalances through comprehensive reforms.

The program’s key pillars include improving the business environment, boosting the private sector’s role, enhancing labor market efficiency and flexibility, developing human capital, and increasing the relative importance of agriculture, industry, and communications sectors.

Reaffirming the government’s commitment, Dr. El-Said expressed aspirations to achieve economic growth rates of 7-8% by 2027, with key sectors like agriculture, industry, communications, and information technology contributing 35% by then. Despite anticipated economic growth deceleration in 2024 due to ongoing conflicts, Egypt’s growth is projected to surpass regional averages.

Dr. El-Said highlighted Egypt’s achievements in global indicators, notably ranking first in Africa for liner shipping connectivity in Q3 2023 and achieving high rankings in logistics, renewable energy attractiveness, and digital government readiness.

Regarding foreign trade, she highlighted Egypt’s free trade agreements, its promising domestic market of 105.3 million people, and potential access to 2 billion consumers through various free trade agreements.

Dr. El-Said reviewed Egypt’s non-petroleum export performance in 2023, with construction materials leading at 24.8%, followed by chemicals and fertilizers at 18.2%, food industries at 14%, electronics and engineering products at 12.2%, and agricultural products at 10.5%. She also identified major non-petroleum import sectors, including electronics and engineering products at 29%, construction materials at 16.6%, chemicals and fertilizers at 13.1%, and agricultural products at 13%.

Highlighting Egypt’s investment environment, Dr. El-Said emphasized incentives for foreign direct investment, citing a significant 123.5% increase in FDI inflows to Egypt in 2022, reaching $11.4 billion from $5.1 billion in 2021.

Dr. El-Said concluded by reaffirming the Egyptian Sovereign Fund’s role as an ideal partner for the private sector, aligned with Egypt’s Vision 2030 to encourage investment in untapped assets and safeguard future generations’ interests. She also emphasized the strategic significance of the Suez Canal Economic Zone and provided insights into the incentives offered to the private sector, underscoring Egypt’s commitment to achieving competitive balance between the public and private sectors to foster both local and foreign investments.