In his policy statement delivered before the House of Representatives on 8 July, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said the cabinet aims to turn Egypt into a regional hub for industry and trade over the next three years.

In order to achieve this, Madbouli said the government will implement policies that will increase the contribution of the industrial, agricultural, and information technology sectors to 38 per cent of GDP by 2026-27.

The government will focus on industry as “the main way for achieving sustainable economic development,” Madbouli said, indicating that it is working day and night to phase out bureaucratic obstacles facing local and foreign industrial investors, to encourage the use of advanced technology in the industrial sector, and to launch initiatives for promoting small and medium-sized industrial enterprises.

Madbouli added that the government would also focus on modernising the industrial infrastructure, offering advanced vocational training for workers and promoting labour-intensive industries to create jobs.

He indicated that the cabinet plans to collaborate with the industrial sector to increase locally sourced inputs by tapping investments for some 152 projects. Output from these investments will contribute to cutting down the imports bill and curb the foreign-exchange drain.

The government will continue to work to raise the competitive capacities of Egyptian industrial exports, Madbouli said. “We aim to raise the growth of exports by more than 15 per cent each year, mainly through doubling industrial exports,” he said.

To help achieve these objectives, Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir has also been appointed minister of industry and deputy prime minister for industrial development.

The 300-page policy statement presented to the House said the government targets an annual growth rate of 31.2 per cent in industrial output by the end of 2027 and $103.4 billion in total exports in the period between 2024 and 2026 and $130 billion by 2027.

It highlights work to create a new database for export-oriented companies and achieve an eight per cent yearly increase in electronics exports and $2 billion in pharmaceutical exports by 2026-27.

The statement says that the government is seeking to reinforce cooperation with trade partners in Africa, in particular via the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

Egyptian exports to Africa will also be supported by new trade missions, with added support for companies targeting exports to Africa also on the cards.

In a statement delivered before an ad hoc parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing the government’s policy statement on 11 July, Minister of Transport and Industry Kamel Al-Wazir indicated that plans are underway to boost the industrial sector’s contribution to GDP from 16 per cent at present to 20 per cent by the end of 2027.

He said Egypt will adopt a national industrial strategy based on seven pillars including reducing imports, localising the production of inputs for industry, offering greater incentives to export-led industries, initiating partnerships with industry leaders and investors, attracting foreign industrial investors, promoting electronic and green industries, and improving the quality of Egyptian industries.

He expressed the hope that the new national industrial strategy will create seven to eight million jobs in the next few years.

Al-Wazir emphasised that the cabinet will be eyeing solutions to the problems facing industrial factories. “Due to the difficult economic conditions, many factories have had to close down, but we as a government will move to help them to open again,” he said, indicating that he intends to hold weekly meetings with the owners of faltering factories and launch initiatives to solve the problems they may face.

He also noted that the cabinet is launching a Digital Industrial Platform, which will help new investors obtain licences in an easy, transparent, and simplified way.

Also under consideration is the creation of an Investor’s Service and Support Office, which will be affiliated with the Industry Ministry and tasked with simplifying licensing procedures in coordination with the General Authority for Industrial Development.

Al-Wazir said that the Industry Ministry will be actively involved in launching initiatives to support research and development in industry in collaboration with Egyptian universities with a view to keeping local industries in line with international standards.

He also said there would be better communication between the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) and other government bodies and stakeholders in order to create more transparency and clearer guidelines for official permits.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 25 July, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly