● Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation: Intensifying work with development partners to implement the three pillars of the development policy financing program to support the implementation of structural reforms.
● Deputy Minister of Finance addresses economic and structural reform efforts and implementation of the comprehensive health insurance project.
●nThe CEO of GAFI presents efforts to improve the business environment, facilitate investment procedures, and preparations for the joint conference with the European Union.
●nThe head of the Competition Protection Agency reviews the national strategy to support competition policies and competitive neutrality.
During the first day of the work of the high-level European Union mission, the Ministry of International Cooperation hosted a number of meetings with national entities and members of the mission, to discuss procedures and policies related to the macroeconomic support mechanism and budget deficit support, within the framework of the coordination role played by the Ministry to strengthen joint economic relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the European Union, under the umbrella of the strategic partnership between the two sides, and the great importance that the economic file has in Egyptian-European relations. This is especially in light of the measures implemented by the Government of Egypt to strengthen the path of economic and structural reform in order to advance the recovery of the economy and achieve comprehensive and sustainable growth.
H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, held a bilateral meeting with the members of the mission, and successive meetings were held in which Dr. Nevine el-Kabbaj Minister of Social Solidarity; Ahmed Kouchouk, Vice Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policies and Institutional Reform; and Ambassador Omar Abu Eish, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs responsible for the Implementation of the Egyptian-European Partnership Agreement; Dr. Gehan Saleh, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs; Osama El-Gohary, Assistant to the Prime Minister and Head of the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC); Mr. Mahmoud El-Sakka, Advisor to the Prime Minister for the Monetization Program; Hossam Heiba, Chairman of the General Authority For Investments (GAFI); and Dr. Mahmoud Momtaz, Chairman at Egyptian Competition Authority, and Ambassador Christian Berger, Head of the European Union Delegation in Cairo, and members of the European Union delegation that concludes its work today.
The meetings witnessed discussions on the measures and efforts undertaken by the state to support the recovery of the Egyptian economy and overcome development challenges, especially at the level of social protection efforts and support for the lowest-income groups, as well as measures to encourage foreign direct investment and empower the private sector, efforts to improve public finance indicators, and implement the government proposal program and management of state-owned companies.
For her part, Al-Mashat explained that the Ministry is working under the umbrella of the Egyptian state’s vision, and through the framework of international cooperation and development financing, to enhance economic and structural reform efforts, through joint work with multilateral and bilateral development partners. H.E. noted that the discussions with the European side integrate with the efforts made with other development partners. In this regard, the development policy financing program is being implemented, which is based on 3 main pillars, which include enhancing economic competitiveness and improving the business environment; enhancing macroeconomic resilience; and supporting the green transition, to enhance structural reform plans by supporting the state’s general budget.
The Minister indicated that raising the course of Egyptian-European relations to the level of strategic partnership during the era of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi comes as a culmination of an extended history and close relations between the two sides, explaining that the next phase in the framework of Egyptian-European relations is an exceptional phase to enhance development efforts and support priorities. The state is concerned with enhancing macroeconomic stability, increasing opportunities for private sector participation in the economy, and enhancing its role in development efforts, through several axes, including implementing the government proposal program, improving the governance of state-owned companies, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public resource management.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Finance noted the measures taken by the government to implement economic and structural reforms to support the national economy, and the efforts implemented to enhance the effectiveness of the role played by the private sector to achieve development and improve competition between the government and private sectors. He also addressed the state’s efforts to implement the Universal Health Insurance System (UHIS), explaining that the government of Egypt has approved an integrated plan for economic reform that includes adopting an integrated and coherent package of policies, measures and structural reforms that would stimulate the path of high and sustainable growth.
GAFI CEO Hossam Heiba reviewed the measures taken by the government to facilitate the procedures required to establish companies, improve the business environment for various types of companies, and expand the granting of the golden license, which is considered a comprehensive license for the various permits required to establish, manage, and operate companies, for the purpose of facilitating investors and improving the business environment. Heiba explained that the golden license is a move among many other measures and steps that the state is constantly taking to encourage investments and increase efforts to empower the private sector. He also discussed preparations for holding a joint investment conference with the European Union scheduled for next June.
For his part, Dr. Mahmoud Momtaz, Chairman at Egyptian Competition Authority presented the strategy and pillars of the competition protection authority’s work, the national strategy to support competition policies and competitive neutrality, and the steps taken by the Egyptian state in this regard in order to protect freedom of competition and improve the investment climate, and the legislative amendments that was done to support competition policies and their positive impact on the investment climate in Egypt, and to improve the country’s position with economic indicators issued by various international institutions.
It is worth noting that last March, Egypt hosted the historic Egyptian-European summit that witnessed the signing of a declaration to enhance joint relations to the level of a strategic partnership between H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the President of the European Commission. This ceremony also included the announcement of a financing package to support the Egyptian economy from the European Union with a value of €7.4 billion.