Chairman of Sabayek Misr company for gold trading Ragab Hamed said Egypt has been implementing an inclusive reform plan covering each of its sectors and the Egyptians have begun to feel its positive results
Chairman of Sabayek Misr company for gold trading Ragab Hamed said Egypt has been implementing an inclusive reform plan covering each of its sectors and the Egyptians have begun to feel its positive results.
In an exclusive interview with Ahram Online, Hamed said Egypt's reform programme has succeeded to fulfil its targets, which is why prominent financial corporations have been praising Egypt's reform programme, especially in the economic, social, and structural sectors.
MENA, North Africa promising destination for investors
"Many investors now do not opt to invest and do business in a developed country. Instead, they head to the Middle East and Africa because they will find the suitable opportunities they are searching for, particularly in Arab countries. Many of the regional countries have adopted reform plans to boost their economic and business profiles and Egypt is no exception due to its promising market and incentives," Hamed said.
The Kuwaiti Sabayek Company, for example, has decided to invest in Egypt by opening a new office under the name "Sabayek Misr" due to Egypt's financial stability, reassuring governmental policies, good infrastructure, and the incentives provided over the past few years, which allured the company to enter the Egyptian market and make use of its potential, Hamed added.
Sabayek to invest EGP 100 million in Egypt
According to Hamed, Sabayek will open its Cairo office by the beginning of 2020 with initial investments of EGP 100 million, which is equivalent to the company's activities in one week. This means it may reach EGP 500 million in a month due to the high price of trading gold jewelleries.
He added that Sabayek is headquartered in Kuwait, with offices in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Georgia. The company plans to expand its presence in MENA markets by opening offices in Sudan and Lebanon. Hamed said Sabayek opted to set up its Egypt main office in Cairo, and will open offices in Alexandria, Upper and Lower Egypt in 2020.
Gold for gold trading
He clarified that Sabayek Misr's work is based on the fact that gold is a "popular investment". It allows clients to trade through Sabayek's online website without resorting to mediators, according to the company's trade-off system "gold for gold".
According to this system, clients are allowed to trade in any amount of gold. The company can be the mediator if a client chooses to trade with other markets, Hamed stated.
"Gold is an industry in and of itself, and is no longer dealt with as a luxury good only since seven percent of the annual global gold production gets into manufacturing computers, five percent in pharmaceutical industries, central banks acquire 20 percent, and 30 percent is used in gold jewelleries. Meanwhile, individual investments receive the lion's share of global gold production," Hamed added.
Hikes in gold prices driven by lack of supply and increasing demand
In the global market, gold prices are driven by the lack of supply and increase in demand, in addition to the hurdles gold mines have been facing in the extraction phase, Hamed said. Gold prices are also affected by the increasing demand of banks and ventures. The per-capita gold was estimated at 1.45 grams, and now it stands at about 100 grams in countries such as Egypt. Per-capita records range between 200 grams and 400 grams in the Gulf.
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