Baréty made his comments during a meeting held on Tuesday with Mohamed Maait — Egypt’s minister of finance and the chairman of the UHIS’s authority in the ministry’s headquarters in Cairo.

The ambassador also said that France is eager to boost cooperation with Egypt across all fields and to support the country’s development plans; particularly in the transportation field and the UHIS.

During the meeting, Maait told Baréty that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi instructed the government to extend the UHIS’s umbrella to cover all governorates in 10 years instead of 15, adding that its first phase is expected to be done by June.

On a macroeconomic level, the minister told Baréty that Egypt is aiming to achieve a sustainable economic growth rate that ranges between six and seven percent over the coming years under Egypt’s 2030 Vision.

He also told him that the government plans to accelerate its initial public offering programme by listing more state-owned companies in the Egyptian Exchange over the coming months for the sake of expanding the ownership base of these companies, especially by the private sector.

Furthermore, the minister showcased Egypt’s efforts in terms of its economic reforms that enabled the country to be resilient against economic shocks, adding that Egypt’s leadership is significantly keen on creating an investment climate in the country in which Egyptian and foreign private sector companies can play a role in the country’s mega development projects.

These efforts also aim to attract more foreign direct investments to the domestic market, including giving incentives to French companies to expand their businesses in Egypt, Maait told Baréty.

Additionally, the minister mentioned the pro-active containment measures that Egypt took to contain the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, which required two percent of the country’s GDP to execute.

On 21 September, Baréty assumed his position as the French ambassador to Egypt, succeeding Stéphane Romatet.

In a statement published by MENA, a number of French economists said that Egypt’s economic reforms have fostered an investment-friendly environment and enhanced the country’s GDP growth.

They also noted that exchanging visits between senior officials and heads of the major companies in both countries aims to push forward bilateral investments and trade exchange, according to the statement.

French investments in the Egyptian market amounted to around €5 billion in 2020, according to the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Egypt.

There is a total of 165 French companies currently operating in Egypt that have around 38,000 employees.

Moreover, trade exchange between France and Egypt has reached €3 billion, which mainly includes food products, medicine, construction, telecommunications, environment, tourism, renewable energy, and automotive manufacturing, according to the chamber.