President Sisi approves State Ownership Policy Document

Habiba Hamdy , Thursday 29 Dec 2022

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has approved the final version of the State Ownership Policy Document, which determines the state's presence in the economic sectors and seeks to enhance the private sector's participation in public investments.

President Sisi

 

 

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, according to a statement released following the meeting.

The document identifies the sectors from which the state plans to withdraw, decrease, or increase its presence over the coming three years.

It also aims to expand the participation of the private sector in public investments from 30 percent at present to 65 percent within three years.

The document also emphasises the state’s priorities of increasing the participation of the private sector to stimulate economic growth, increase exports, and provide employment opportunities and investments, the prime minister added.

It also aims to increase the rate of investments by 25-30 percent to achieve a 7-9 percent growth in the economy.

Such growth, he said, will provide job opportunities and reduce unemployment.

The document is set to be implemented gradually.

Furthermore, the state’s withdrawal from designated economic activities will depend on a variety of factors, Madbouly indicated.

These factors include the nature of economic activities and the dictates of economic developments both locally and internationally.

Whether these activities have strategic value or implications for security will also heavily determine the state’s decision to withdraw or not, confirmed Madbouly.

In addition, the document outlines the state's presence in a number of economic sectors and manufacturing industries.

According to the document, the state is set to withdraw from 62 business activities, maintain or decrease its presence in 56 activities, and maintain or increase its presence in 76 activities, according to the statement.

The government will announce its reasoning at each step, Madbouly noted.

Following today’s presidential ratification of the document, a Supreme Committee, headed by the prime minister, will be formed to implement the document as per specific timelines.

The committee will also be responsible for overcoming all challenges facing implementation, defining the exit mechanism at the level of activities, and determining the appropriate timing to begin implementation.

The document was discussed during the national economic conference held in October.

Madbouly said the new version of the document responded to 85 percent of the observations and remarks made during the dialogue sessions.

During the dialogue, Madbouly asserted that exiting from some economic sectors does not mean that Egypt was selling its assets to foreign entities.

Instead, he said, the aim of such exiting was to empower the private sector.

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