Sisi calls on BRICS bloc to bring more investments to Egypt

CAIRO – 4 September 2017: Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi called on the BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to bring more investments in Egypt on Monday as his country takes measures to provide a “good atmosphere” for foreign investments.

“We are working hard to make Egypt a supportive environment for your investments. We also look forward to benefiting from your expertise,” Sisi said in his speech in a session on Egypt at BRICS Business Forum on Monday.


President Sisi addresses the BRICS Business Forum in China's Xiamen - Press Photo

The forum, which is held on the sideline of the 9th annual BRICS summit which kicked off Sunday in China's port city of Xiamen, was attended by hundreds of businessmen.

President Sisi added that Egypt is working on measures to implement its development, adding that his country has successfully dealt with the economic crisis to bring security and stability despite the cost of war against terrorism.
Sisi also continued that Egypt has adopted several radical economic reform measures while following a national plan that constituted a strategy for development until the year 2030.

Egypt’s economic growth went up by 4.3 percent in July 2017, while the foreign reserves at the Central Bank of Egypt reached $36 billion, Sisi said, adding that his country is trying to control the inflation rates by shrinking the budget deficit to be less than 10 percent of the GDP.

As for Egypt’s strategy concerning the subsidy system, Sisi said the government has studied the Brazilian experience in dealing with inflation via increasing productivity and enhancing economic efficiency and via privatizing some companies while expanding public expenditures on social protection and services.

"We have also studied the Indian experiment in applying modern technology for listing those benefiting from subsidy," Sisi added.

Egypt’s monetary policies have been amended and a resilient exchange rate system was adopted to end trading in currency outside the banking system, Sisi said, noting that such measures participated in attracting more foreign investments.
Few days ago, the Ministry of Trade and Industry approved a law allowing companies to get permits only in seven days instead of taking 600 days, Sisi continued, noting that the House of Representatives (the Parliament) has adopted a unified investment law offering many incentives for investors such as tax exemptions and lands for free along with easy measures to start an investment project.


President Sisi talks with attendants of the BRICS Business Forum on the sideline of BRICS Summit in China's Xiamen- Press Photo

Sisi said that Egyptian national projects of cultivating 1.5 million feddans and setting up new and modern cities nationwide are achieving remarkable progress.

The projects also include establishing more than 5,000 kilometers of roads and undergrounds along with new oil discoveries, and establishing the first nuclear power plant in Dabaa city on the Mediterranean Sea, he said.

Egypt will take part in three high-profile bilateral meetings with China, Russia and India alongside the two-day summit. Egypt is one of the guests of honor along with Guinea, Mexico, Tajikistan and Thailand.