Minister of planning Hala El-Saied has said that if woman managed to achieve participation rates in the labour force analogous to those of men, the income for Egyptian families would increase by at least 25 percent.

The minister added that female unemployment rates in Egypt have reached their lowest level ever at 19 percent in 2018. The government seeks to increase female participation in the labour marker to more than 35 percent.

Minister El-Saied made the comments during the launching ceremony of the European Union Initiative for Equality and the Empowerment of Women on Tuesday at the Swedish Embassy in Cairo in cooperation with the EU mission in Cairo.

El-Saied stressed that the Egyptian government has a strong belief that increasing women's participation in the labour force will accelerate economic development, noting that there is no discrimination in Egypt between men and women in obtaining loans, allocation of land for projects, and ownership of small and medium enterprises.

The minister expressed her gratitude for the Egyptian government's efforts to empower women, saying "the percentage of women holding the position of minister in the government has increased to 25 percent, which represents the largest percentage in the history of Egypt, while Egyptian women hold 45 percent of jobs within the state administration and this rate exceeds the global average of 32 percent."