Egypt working to have place on int’l investment map – Minister

Egyptian Emigration Minister Soha Gendi said on Tuesday that the government is acting to have a place for Egypt on the international investment map.

Cairo is seeking to boost business opportunities for expats, Gendi said during a meeting with Egyptian magnates in the UAE on the sidelines of her overseas tour, the second since she assumed office.

Gendi talked about benefiting from expertise of Egyptians abroad, especially at the economic and trade levels. Such experiments can very well contribute to promoting the investment climate in Egypt, she noted.

The minister listened to ideas of the investors to boost the business climate in Egypt. She also put them in the picture about a project to establish a company concerned with investments of Egyptians abroad.

A working team should be formed to establish the company, Gendi said, adding that investors wishing to join are also welcome. The government is seeking to enhance production and build factories, she noted.

The meeting also took up the different investment opportunities in Egypt, with focus on incentives given to top priority fields of investment, atop of which industrialisation and production.

Gendi said her Ministry had already reviewed investment opportunities that expats could grab in Egypt, noting that those are in line with a sustainable development strategy designed by the government at home.

Asked about the private sector’s role in the production process, the minister assured the businesspeople that the door is open to investors to participate in existing ventures that have already proven successful.

Indeed, partnerships are a good means to improve the investment environment in Egypt, the minister acknowledged, stressing that the government is keen on stepping up the role played by the private sector in this regard.

The Egyptian investors abroad called for establishing an ideas’ fund and connecting it with all means of communication, which the minister promised to include in the yet-to-be-implemented application.

She said that her Ministry is also studying a proposal to establish an expat pension fund, as is the case in many world countries.

Gendi told the Egyptian businessmen in the UAE that their ideas are being taken into consideration, stressing that they are an important part in the national decision making.