Dr. Rady: Sisi, Trump Enjoy Harmony Since 1st Meeting

Dr. Dina Rady, a professor at George Washington University in Washington, DC, is one of the few experts who are interested in studying Egypt’s economy. Her papers and researches mostly focus on the small and medium enterprises.

Here is an excerpt of an interview that SEE conducted with Dr. Rady.

•  This is the sixth summit between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and U.S. President Donald Trump, Is there any differences between the coming summit and the previous ones?

I think that there is no difference. The two presidents, since they met for the first time, enjoyed harmony. It is known that the Egyptian-US relations are based on mutual respect and bilateral cooperation had been boosted since Camp David Accords which resulted in fruitful interests for the regions' countries.

•  According to your vision, What is the leap which the Egyptian economy witnessed over the past years?

Over the past five years, there were indicators which refer that Egypt witnessed economic growth. The annual economic growth raised from 1.8% to 5.5% and unemployment declined to 9%, a percentage which is the lowest since the last quarter of 2010. Egypt saw a big boom in the volume of national mega projects, establishing new cities, and cultivating more lands as well as reforming vital sectors like education and health. New initiatives have been launched to protect the low-income people.

All these reforms come in light of a serious threat which is terrorism.

•  How do the international institutions' ratings affect the Egyptian economy?

The recent Egyptian economic reforms bolstered the economy's potentials, a matter which improved the World Bank's assessment to the Egyptian economy and increased the volume of loans and grants provided to Egypt in addition to other examples from well-known financial institutions:

Moody's affirmed Egypt's senior unsecured ratings at B3, and its senior unsecured MTN program rating at B3.

Fitch Ratings affirmed Egypt's long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'B' with a positive outlook.

Egypt ranked19 among world's 21 most powerful economies in 2030, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Egypt ranked 94 out of 140 on WEF's Global Competitiveness Index in 2018.

On February 4, 2019, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the fourth review of the three-year extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Egypt, a matter which represented a certificate proves the Egyptian economy's recovery.

[caption id="attachment_44507" align="aligncenter" width="436"] Dr. Dina Rady[/caption]

• Do you expect that the coming summit would be successful at the economic level?

I expect that the summit would have fruitful economic outcomes. We can see its results in pumping more investments in Egypt and strengthening bilateral cooperation.

•  Does Egypt have the comprehensive capabilities; politically and economically to lead the development process in Africa and the Middle East region?

Egypt has promoted ties with the African countries in light of its chairmanship of the African Union as well as being a part of Arab allies, a matter which encourages to lead the development process in the region. We can bet on Egypt to improve the bad economic conditions regionally like establishing a mega dam in Tanzania.

• Is Trump interested in the Egyptian political vision towards regional issues like Jerusalem and Golan Heights?

Yeah, the US president is keen on listening to the Egyptian point of views and what proves that is the White House's invitation to President Sisi to visit US to tackle various issues, a matter which represents an appreciation for Egypt's pioneering role.

[caption id="attachment_44508" align="aligncenter" width="599"] Dr Dina Rady in front of Her Hall[/caption]

• To what has the extent the strategic relationship reached?

The repeated summits between the two leaders are a proof for Egypt's strategic position for the United States. Anyone, following Sisi's foreign tours, he will see that the president's visits are successful followed by more investments to Egypt at various levels.

•  What is you opinion about Sisi as a president and his achievements?

In a little while, the president managed to achieve several accomplishments for Egypt like restoring security, increasing the economic growth rate after it was very poor. He really led the development process in the country by taking bold decisions.

•  Please, tell us about your opinion about Sisi's decision to raise the minimum monthly wage of state employees

I think that the decision came to achieve the social justice, a matter which shows Sisi's support the low-income people. It also points to the tangible improvement among the Egyptian people because of the economic reform program.