Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El-Khatib, held high-level discussions this week with senior officials from S&P Global and J.P. Morgan, outlining the country’s progress in economic reform and its comprehensive strategy to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).
The meeting, which included representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Egypt, was led on the S&P Global side by Roberto Sifon Arevalo, Global Head of Sovereign and Multilateral Ratings, and Benjamin Young, Executive Director and Head of Sovereign Ratings for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The discussions centered around Egypt’s current sovereign credit profile, macroeconomic outlook, and the government’s ongoing fiscal and institutional reforms. The delegation reviewed Egypt’s economic trajectory as S&P Global prepares to reassess the country’s credit rating in the coming cycle.
El-Khatib presented Egypt’s economic vision, which is anchored in clear, long-term policies aimed at achieving sustainable growth. The strategy combines monetary, fiscal, and trade policy reforms with aggressive investment promotion and a push for deeper private sector engagement.
He highlighted that tax reforms, a key pillar of fiscal restructuring, are already boosting investor confidence, while non-tax burdens are being streamlined through restructuring of fees and charges across government agencies. Egypt aims to establish a competitive and unified tax regime backed by full digital transparency.
Digitalization is playing a central role in enhancing the investment climate. El-Khatib revealed the successful launch of Egypt’s Unified Licensing Platform, currently covering 389 licenses across 41 government bodies, with a 20-day target for processing. Additional services will be added in the coming phases.
He also introduced the upcoming Economic Entities Platform, a unified digital gateway for investors covering all stages of project development. Pilot results from administrative reform projects in four sectors have shown significant simplification of procedures, paving the way for broader implementation with international advisory support.
El-Khatib confirmed that Egypt is executing a national action plan in preparation for the World Bank's upcoming "Business Ready" report. The reform matrix developed indicates that 60% of required reforms could be implemented within nine months, potentially pushing Egypt into the top 50 globally in competitiveness rankings.
For the first time, Egypt has adopted a national trade policy aligning domestic and foreign trade priorities to enhance export capacity, deepen integration into global value chains, and diversify markets.
On the logistics front, the average customs clearance time has been reduced from 16 days to 5.8 days, with a target of just 2 days by year-end through the implementation of four additional measures.
The Minister also unveiled a new FDI attraction strategy, identifying 13 priority sectors, 8 of which are ready for immediate promotion, while 5 require enabling reforms. A detailed implementation roadmap and monitoring mechanism will ensure that the strategy is translated into tangible results, with a focus on sustainable development and value-added industries.
Officials from S&P Global praised the Egyptian government's progress in enacting economic and institutional reforms, highlighting the clear coordination between the Ministry of Investment, the Central Bank, and the Ministry of Finance.
They also welcomed Egypt’s efforts to link trade and investment policy, improve business transparency, and pursue financial sustainability through digitization and data-driven governance.
“Sustained reform momentum is critical for investor confidence and long-term creditworthiness,” said an S&P representative after the meeting, indicating cautious optimism about Egypt’s economic outlook.
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