CAIRO - 23 October 2022: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi witnessed the launch of Egypt’s Economic Conference 2022, which will last for three days, where he delivered a speech focusing on many different issues, foremost of which is electricity, the state's contributions to eliminating slums, and the education file.
In the following lines, Egypt Today (ET) reviews Sisi’s most prominent statements at the economic conference during its first activities.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi referred to the role of Zohr gas field in supporting the Egyptian economy.
"Demarcation of the borders in the Mediterranean Sea with Cyprus and Greece... and in the Red Sea with Saudi Arabia, played a major role in the field's work,” Sisi stated.
Without the demarcation of the borders, companies would not have been involved in drilling, he commented, saying that were it not for the Zohr field, Egypt would have been suffering from lack of electricity.
The state is not able to provide $2 billion annually in order to run power stations, Sisi said.
“When Egypt reached the maritime border demarcation agreement, the government was criticized,” he pointed out, adding that the Italian company Eni requested a five-year period to explore gas in the Zohr field, but I [the president] asked them to shorten that period to only 18 months.
Sisi added that it was clear that the depth of the crisis we are witnessing in the modern era requires urgent measures and radical solutions.
According to the president, economic tracks and solutions need a cultural, political and social vision. Facing the economic challenges was colliding with the precautions of maintaining the fragile stability of the state instead of moving in the paths of critical solutions that are dangerous.
“Egypt needs to build 60,000 classrooms annually in order to counter the two million population increase annually,” Sisi announced.
He clarified that the volume of existing assets in Egypt is only sufficient to cover 50% of the required.
As per the reform program, he noted that the reform must delve into the state’s administrative apparatus, and that the reform in the education system will consist of the available capabilities.
“The outcomes of the economic conference represent the pillars of the reform path,” Sisi note, stating that the cost of the reform was increasing day by day.
He elaborated that the state's assets and capabilities were never sufficient to receive massive blows such as the successive waves of terrorism that Egypt faced and their impact on tourism and investment.
The newly 40 established cities added LE 10 trillion to the balances of the Egyptian state, Sisi said.
Regarding the administrative capital, the president said that the state did not bear a "single pound” of its cost, noting that the capital which is being built on an area of 175,000 feddans, but was borne by the private sector.
On another hand, Sisi said that TV series and the media often make the country an adversary in the face of the challenges it faces.
He also noted that the state has established paths of thought; to overcome the problems it faces despite the limited capabilities it possesses, citing what health initiatives have achieved in eliminating some diseases such as hepatitis C.
Sisi pointed to the state's reliance on the waiting lists initiative, to provide a good medical service to the citizens, stating that 1.4 million surgeries were performed during the past three years.
President Sisi would have called for early elections if the people refused economic reform, stressing that the experience that Egypt witnessed during the past 7 years, proved that we [the government] did not appreciate the value of the Egyptian citizen, who has endured many sacrifices, for the sake of development and reform, according to his speech.
As per slums, Sisi said that Egypt has provided 250,000 units to eliminate slums and dangerous areas.
The events of 2011 and 2013 were the reason behind terrorism the state witnessed during the past years because they allowed the political Islam to reach the authority, and when its representatives failed, they refused to announce their failure, according to Sisi.
The Egyptian Economic Conference 2022 kicked off on Sunday at Al-Massa Hotel in the New Administrative Capital to discuss the situation and future of Egypt’s economy amid consecutive economic crises across the world.
The Economic Conference, which runs from 23 to 25 October, is organized by the government with the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the participation of a large number of economic experts and intellectuals.
The conference agenda is packed with many sessions and events over its three days, according to three main tracks. The first track includes macroeconomic policies, while the second track focuses on empowering the private sector and creating a business environment.
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