Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development participates in the 2nd workshop to analyze data on the results of the economic census of Egypt

Dr. Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, participated in a workshop entitled "Women and the Labor Market".The workshop was held within the framework of cooperation between the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and the Macroeconomic Reform and Stability Project funded by the US Agency for International Development and the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research "Baseera".Dr. Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development asserted during his speech the importance of partnership to achieve sustainable development goals. Kamali explained the importance of the 17th goal, which is concerned with a partnership to achieve the goals, noting that the work on analyzing data on the results of the economic census of Egypt for the year 2017/2018 is an embodiment of the idea of ​​partnership in achieving the goals.Kamali referred to the keenness to participate in the workshops in line with the orientations of the Egyptian government, especially the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, concerning evidence-based policies, that there should be studies on important topics related to the Egyptian economy and benefit from those studies to formulate policies. Kamali explained that there is currently a strong trend led by the Ministry of Planning in this regard to benefit from the available data and experts in Egypt to assist the Egyptian government in formulating policies.Kamali also touched on the role of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, explaining the importance of the role of the CAPMAS at the level of Egypt and even at the regional level as well, pointing to the leading role played by the CAPMAS in collecting data and conducting various surveys.Kamali stressed the importance of making data available and the need to exploit it, pointing to the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development's interest in transparency in making data and reports available, stressing the ministry's keenness to follow this approach to ensure objectivity in studying issues related to the Egyptian economy.Kamali also pointed out the importance of the issue of women and the labor market because of its many dimensions and economic repercussions on growth rates and the budget deficit, as well as social ones.

For his part, Dr. Maged Othman, CEO of the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research "Baseera", pointed out the importance of the project as, for the first time, it intensively competitively analyzes Egyptian censuses data with the participation of a large number of researchers.He added that the diversity of data at the level of Egypt and the world cannot be overlooked in terms of data producers, explaining that there is now data produced by the private sector. Othman further highlighted that the official statistics remain the most disciplined methodologically, stressing the need to benefit from such data as much as possible, explaining that the project represents a step in the right direction.Dr. Ola Al-Khawaja, the Senior Consultant of the Macroeconomic Reform and Stability Project, said that the project includes 12 policy papers aimed at presenting a set of directions to the decision-maker, which the state can adopt in the coming period concerning many issues such as productivity issues, work issues, and diversity.Al-Khawaja emphasized the state's interest in and support for the issue of women, noting the aspiration to present a prescription to the decision-maker for the direction that the state could take towards the problem and take positive steps towards a solution, not just a description of the problem.