Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi called for enhancing the efficiency of the export support system and expanding the base of products benefiting from the system’s programmes with a focus on industrial sectors of high added value.
The president’s remarks came during his meeting on Monday with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli and the Cabinet Economic Group, Presidency Spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi said.
During the meeting, the president reviewed the basic indicators of the Egyptian economy during 2021, the status of the trade balance, exports and imports, as well as aspects of development co-operation with international partners.
The president urged enhancing the compatibility of various development finances with the national goals of sustainable development in all sectors as part of Egypt’s Vision 2030, Spokesman Radi said.
In relevant directives during the meeting, President Sisi called for direct and regular follow up, by the Cabinet ministers concerned, of developmental projects in their respective sectors and for immediate action to overcome any challenges or obstacles, in order to ensure the achievement of the desired results and benefit.
The meeting also featured a review of the axes of the state’s vision for optimising the role of the private sector in the achievement of economic development, the spokesman said, adding that the economic indicators of the activities of both the public and private sectors and their contribution to the Gross National Product were also considered.
During the meeting, President Sisi reviewed the executive position of the “National Pioneers” initiative, which aims to contribute to import substitution and deepening the local product by promoting Egyptian exports and attracting foreign direct investment.
The initiative is being implemented under the supervision of the Central Bank of Egypt and through Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt in co-operation and coordination with the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The statistics of foreign trade and the trade balance were also presented as the state’s exports registered an increase of 27 per cent to reach about $31 billion during 2021, the largest volume of exports in the history of the Egyptian economy, the spokesman said.
The relevant presentation indicated that chemical product, building materials, food industries, engineering and electronic goods, agricultural crops and ready-made clothes came in the foremost of the sectors that boosted the country’s exports.
This goes in tandem with displaying the qualitative distribution of the largest commodity groups in the Egyptian import structure, which is aimed at encouraging dependence on the localization of the industry there.
Regarding co-operation with the country’s international partners in development, discussions covered the position of concessional development financing agreements to support national development priorities, Spokesman Radi said.
The total financing packages for various sectors of the state in 2021 amounted to about $10.2 billion, including housing, the environment, and small, medium and micro enterprises, transport, education, energy, health, agriculture and irrigation.
