Maait Calls on British Investors to Maximize Investments in Egypt

The Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, during an official visit to the British capital, called on investors to maximize their investments in Egypt.

In a statement issued on Friday, Mohamed Maait said that Egypt has made remarkable economic progress, which translates into the critical measures included in the economic reform program, which opened prospects for the private sector in the development process of the national economy.

The minister called on major investment institutions and businessmen in London to maximize their investments in Egypt and take advantage of the promising opportunities and the attractive climate.

Speaking at a seminar on investment opportunities in Egypt organized by the British-Egyptian Business Association in London, Maait said that there are many positive indicators, from international institutions, reflecting the upward trend of the Egyptian economy, which confirms that the country is on the right track.

The Egyptian pound, according to Bloomberg, is the second best performing currency in the world after the Russian ruble. Also, Egypt is the second most shock-absorbing country, and ranked third globally, after China and India, in the Economist's list of economic growth at 5.6 percent.

He pointed out that Egypt achieved the second largest first surplus by 2 percent of GDP during the fiscal year 2018-19.

He said that Egypt, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), is the most attractive for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa during the first half of 2019, attracting investments worth $ 3.6 billion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that the growth of the Egyptian economy will remain strong in the coming period due to the improvement of the tourism sector and the increase of natural gas production, pointing out that Egypt has also made new progress in the international rankings.

He added that there is a new draft law to regulate the participation of the private sector in infrastructure projects, utilities and public services, aimed at simplifying procedures, reducing the implementation schedule, and providing more flexible mechanisms for contracting, so that the sector can operate in existing projects, by pumping the necessary funding for rehabilitation and development.

He pointed out that Egypt is opening its doors for investments to achieve economic growth, and has succeeded during the past period in creating an enabling environment to stimulate the business climate and attract investors to work in Egypt and expand their activities, especially in light of the promising opportunities in various sectors through national projects.

Maait said that the Ministry is working to modernize the customs system and the tax system through the continuation of the implementation of two ambitious projects with great support and careful follow-up from the political leadership, based on the optimal use of technology, aimed at improving and stimulating the business climate.

He hinted that it is intended to gradually shift to a "single window" in order to reduce the time of release, and reduce the costs of customs clearance.

The minister explained that the ministry is working to complete the development of the tax system; through the use of modern electronic systems and artificial intelligence to improve the level of performance, and the establishment of a database of tax transactions; which contributes to simplify and automate the procedures.