Cabinet to consult with presidency to hold global economic conference next May

Minister of Investment Ashraf Salman is in discussions with the presidency and the Council of Ministers to hold a global economic conference in Sharm El-Sheikh next May, similar to the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) last March, to attract direct investments.

The board of directors of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) was formed and will hold its first meeting Tuesday, with 70% being private sector representatives.

Salman said the issuance of dollar bonds, which was set to be to issued for about $1.5bn in December, has been postponed indefinitely. The government is currently looking for alternatives, such as subtracting from revenues of the “Beit Alwatan” project that the government has put forward for Egyptians abroad.

“International arbitration cases are very complex and can only be discussed once the arbitration is complete,” Salman said during a conference Sunday to discuss the results of ministry’s work in the past fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015 and its achievements of the first quarter of the current FY

In terms of the coordinating committee between fiscal and monetary policies, Salman said the government is reconsidering public expenditure on the budget to reduce the deficit. “Egypt is an open market state and imports will not be banned,” he said. “A new set of quality standards for imports will be issued but we cannot ban it because it needs to maintain the investment climate.”

Egypt proposed a number of projects in various sectors without feasibility studies so far, and Saudi Arabia is interested in the housing, tourism, energy, and agriculture sectors, he said. “The due diligence audit of the projects is underway to finalise permits for their lands to establish a company to implement the investments that have been agreed,” he said.

The minister said he prepared a work plan for his ministry that will be presented to the parliament. He said the plan includes attracting $10bn worth of investments during this fiscal year and increase the number of branches of GAFI to facilitate investment.

He has submitted a request to the Accountability State Authority to review the financial statements of the governmental companies four times a year instead of once to curb corruption, if present.