Bahaa El-Din's comments came during his participation in the first day of Egypt’s Economic Conference which takes place Sunday through Tuesday.

“The business climate in Egypt does not need to draft new laws or regulations. It just needs to revise current ones in the interest of both the state and the investors, and to enact mechanisms for a real implementation of these laws and regulations”, said Bahaa El-Din.

Boosting private sector participation

The Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said for her part noted that the private sector in Egypt absorbs 78.4 percent of the work force in the Egyptian market, adding that the government has taken measures to empower the private sector and raise its contribution to the GDP to 60 percent.

These measures, according to El-Said, included drafting the State Ownership Policy Document, making amendments to law no.67 for 2010 (which regulates partnerships between the state and the private sector), enacting law no.77 for 2017 (particularly with regards to granting the golden licence to investors) and offering incentives on green investments .

The measures also included implementing the competitive neutrality policy, establishing Egypt’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, and transforming the Suez Canal Economic Zone into a global logistics and industrial hub.

El-Said also touched upon the structural reform programme that Egypt launched in April 2021 being the second phase of the country’s economic reform programme that had been launched in November 2016.

“This phase targets raising the flexibility of the Egyptian economy, uplifting the national economy's ability to absorb external and internal shocks, as well as shifting the trajectory of the national economy from a semi-rentier economy to a productive and competitive one. All of these objectives are meant to support the Egyptian economy to achieve a balanced and sustainable growth as well as to create new job opportunities,” said El-Said.