Live Coverage: Euromoney themed ‘Resilience, Agility’ kicks off in Cairo

CAIRO - 4 September 2018: The 28th Euromoney Conference in Cairo themed resilience and agility kicked off on Tuesday. The two-day event has as speakers many experts and entrepreneurs.

Minister of Finance Mohamed Moet was the speaker of the inaugural session as he discussed Egypt’s prospective sovereign fund, budget, and taxation.

The minister said that the Sovereign Fund would raise a “fortune” that would be deployed for achieving development on all scales.

Moet added that the state is eager to generate more income to develop social safety networks, improve health and education, and ensure a better distribution of wealth.

“The taxation system is being reshaped so that the right amount is collected,” the minister stated.

As for the impact of oil prices fluctuations on the budget, Moet explained that oil prices would not distort the budget because they would not go beyond a certain level.

Regarding the debt strategy, the minister clarified, “we work on creating a solutions package in order to meet the target. We are trying to attract financing for projects rather than borrowing.”

“We cannot control our growing expenditures which went up along with economic growth. We need to sustain the people’s living standard as poverty rose in parallel to reforms. We also need to not disrupt the business environment for investors,” Moet concluded.

Lead Economist at the World Bank Aminur Rahman delivered a speech on Competitiveness and Private Sector Development.

Aminur hailed the progress the sector experiences saying that Egypt is witnessing “an industrial revolution.”

The economist added that certain industries such as IT and telecommunication are remarkably developing and growing in Egypt.

Managing Partner at Sawari Ventures Hany Al-Sharnouby said that banks invested more in equity over the 10 - 15 years before. However, they have recently been investing in the public debt. They still have enough liquidity for investments.


Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology Amr Talaat at the 28 Euromoney Egypt Conference. September 4, 2018


Minister of TeleCommunication and Information Technology said that the ICT (Information and Communication Sector) industry has a pivotal role in economic growth.

It is vital to digitize other industries, the minister added saying, “We aim to enlarge our contribution to the GDP. How we can achieve that?”

Locally, there is a growing demand. In parallel, Egypt targets Africa and Arab countries to export its ICT services, the minister revealed.

The pillar of the ministry’s strategy is digital transformation in Egypt and other countries in the Arab region and the African continent, the minister explained.

The other pillar is upgrading the quality and speed of the infrastructure.

In few months, Port Said would be rendered the pilot digital city in Egypt.

As such, it is pivotal to build skills in a fast paste that matches the growing needs of the ICT market.

“We offer for investors the legislative infrastructure, the sizable market, and the ecosystem,” Talaat affirmed.

“Now, we have three private sector mobile operators that are growing and expanding. That is a sign that conditions necessary for fairness and competition,” the minister highlighted.


This is a developing story