Abdel-Aziz’s proposal came during a session on the role of the state in the economy and priorities for public investments and management of state assets.

He also proposed the formation of a supreme council for technology and AI to set a national strategy in those areas, which would be chaired by the Prime Minister with representatives from the ministries of defence, military production, telecommunication, education and technical education as well as higher education and scientific research.

More public investments needed

During the session, Senator Adel Lam’i stressed the need for discussions on public investments and state management assets to propose policies that boost partnerships between the public and private sectors.

Meanwhile, Economist Ahmed Galal, the former minister of finance who serves as the rapporteur of the economic axis in the dialogue, said exceptional circumstances in the country necessitate increasing allocations to investments in the state budget.

In May, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said announced that the state is planning to increase total investments in the budget by 36 percent to EGP 1.8 trillion ($58.2 billion) in FY2023/2024, compared to EGP 1.32 trillion ($42.7 billion) in the previous fiscal year.