After taking oath, the new ministers of tourism, petroleum and mineral resources, and civil aviation have given statements which reflect their future agendas.

Tourism portfolio
 

“We will hold discussions with the private sector representatives to maximize returns from the tourism sector, aiming to increase its US dollar proceeds, as will be done in other industries,” said the new Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy.

Sherif Fathy took the oath on Wednesday succeeding Ahmed Issa as the tourism minister. Before that, Fathy served as the Minister for Civil Aviation from March 2016 to June 2018.

Fathy said the ministry, under the presidential directives, will continue its plan to increase hotels' capacity and number of flights, which will boost the number of tourists coming to Egypt and, consequently, increase tourism spending.

The tourism sector is one of the main contributors to Egypt’s GDP and one of the key sources of US dollar inflows into the market. Although it has been affected by global and regional tensions, it has started to get on track recently.

The Senate has recently urged the new minister to expedite Umrah Plus, a key tourism product that Egypt aims to use to boost inbound tourism from various targeted Islamic markets.

 It also presents an opportunity for tourism companies to leverage their expertise in religious tourism and collaborate with their counterparts in the Saudi market and other targeted tourist markets.

The goal is to implement comprehensive tourism programmes, including visiting Egypt before or after the Umrah journey and enhancing pilgrims' spiritual and religious tourism experience.

Despite the regional geopolitical events that have restricted tourist movement to Egyptian destinations, Egypt's tourism revenues increased by approximately 4.8 percent in the first half of 2024 to around $6.6 billion, compared to the same period in 2023.

Egypt plans to attract 30 million tourists by 2028. The number of tourists visiting Egypt in the first half of 2024 reached about 7.069 million, a slight increase from their number in the same period in 2023, which saw 7.062 million tourists, according to the ministry’s latest published data.

This also represents a growth compared to 2010, when the number of tourists was 6.9 million.

Air travel incentives, one of the most important means to increase tourist numbers, led to a 34 percent growth in the number of passengers in 2023 compared to 2022.

“We aim to preserve Egyptian antiquities, open the Grand Egyptian Museum, leverage Egypt’s tourism and archaeological potential more effectively, and continue the steps taken by the ministry in the digital transformation of the tourism and antiquities sector,” Fathy noted.

One of the significant issues that the new minister is anticipated to deal with is the issue of the illegal Hajj.

Oil, gas sector
 

"Providing the necessary fuel to operate electricity stations and thus making it available to citizens and companies operating in Egypt is one of the priorities the ministry will work on," said the new Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi.

Karim Badawi took the oath on Wednesday as the new petroleum minister in succession to Tarek El-Molla. Before that, Badawi served as Regional President for Schlumberger in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Badawi affirmed that his ministry will mainly focus on increasing oil and gas production and discoveries and pumping modern technologies to develop discoveries and obtain new fields in the Mediterranean, the Western Desert, and throughout the country.

Egypt has faced a significant gas shortage, which pushed the government to apply a two-three-hour power cut plan during the summer. The crisis hit its peak last week as power outages extended to four hours in some areas across the country.

Additionally, four major fertilisers and petrochemical manufacturers suspended their operations over the gas shortage crisis, before three of them announced they were returning to work gradually with the resumption of gas supply.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a press conference last week that the government has allocated an urgent $1.1 billion to purchase gas shipments to address the crisis. The cabinet reported Thursday that the government sealed deals to import 17 gas cargos, one of which Egypt received on Tuesday.

Badawi said the ministry is paying great attention to dealing with foreign partners to attract more investments into the oil and gas sector and developing the sector's human element, focusing on the importance of mineral wealth to attract investments and pump a new industry.

Repaying the arrears of foreign oil and gas companies operating in Egypt is a cornerstone of the country's loan deal with the IMF. Official sources said this week that Egypt has started to repay these arrears in 2024, with 20-25 percent out of the $4.5 billion disbursed.

The new minister also emphasized that the ministry will focus on petrochemical projects and increasing the added value of this industry to reduce the need for foreign currency, work on opening markets for ammonia and exporting to Europe, and reduce the sector's carbon emissions.

Civil aviation
 

After taking the oath as the new Minister of Civil Aviation, Sameh ElHefny asserted his commitment to continuing work to enhance the position of the civil aviation sector at the international and regional levels and achieveing further growth and development in all sector-related activities.

One of the key priorities ElHefny is anticipated to handle is the cabinet's plan to privatize Egypt's airports, as a part of the holestic strategy to unleash the private sector's potential in economic activity.

In March, the cabinet announced that it took steps to assign the management and operation of the country's airports to private sector companies having long experience in such activity.

Now, the Cabinet is considering a list of leading consulting firms, discussing the technical and financial evaluation criteria, and exploring a proposed initial framework for the offering bids timeline.

In January, the Tourism and Civil Aviation Committee of Egypt's House of Representatives urged restructuring the EgyptAir Holding Company to address its recent service deficiencies.

This call came against the exclusion of EgyptAir, the county’s national and largest carrier, from the top 100 global airlines ranking and the top 10 Arab airlines list — one of the main issues the new minister is anticipated to deal with.