.
One year ago, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, in his first address to the United Nation’s General Assembly, described his vision for a “New Egypt,” one built on “growth, prosperity, and a promising future that meets the aspirations of its people.” Over the past dozen months, we have seen the emerging fulfillment of that vision, cultivating a prosperous and stable future for our citizens and our country. While various megaprojects such as Capital Cairo and the Suez Canal expansion—which will create jobs, spur innovation and stimulate economic activity—grab headlines, Egypt is stimulating the investments necessary to reinvigorate our industrial, commercial and entrepreneurial sectors. We are developing the Golden Triangle Area to take advantage of the area’s rich mineral reserves, increasing development on the northwest coast and desert hinterland, expanding access to new and affordable housing, modernizing transit infrastructure as well as establishing a global logistics center for grain storage. During the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC), dozens of deals worth billions of dollars were announced across a diverse array of sectors, marking a down payment on future growth and prosperity. We have secured billions to develop diverse and sustainable sources of energy including natural gas, solar and wind. We aim to have renewables comprise 20 percent of the country’s energy generation by 2020 and have already received bids for nearly 4 gigawatts-worth of solar and wind projects. This will ease the strain on a growing population and pump new revenue streams into our economy. At the same time, we have reduced and rationalized Egypt’s energy subsidy that previously absorbed roughly 20 percent of the entire budget. Thanks to these reforms, subsidy spending fell 30 percent during the first half of this year compared to last. Egypt has reduced barriers for new international investment and commerce by eliminating burdensome legal and bureaucratic obstacles while introducing a new unified investment law. This is a key step toward ensuring a fair and business-friendly environment for foreign investors. Amendments to our competition and anti-monopoly code will kindle a more competitive economy while the new uniform investment law will make investing in Egypt a more streamlined and attainable process. Altogether, these measures have produced strong economic results and reaffirming assessments. The International Monetary Fund improved its growth outlook for Egypt to 4 percent, doubling last year’s rate. Fitch and Moody’s have upgraded Egypt’s credit and bond ratings while Standard and Poor’s raised its evaluation to ‘positive.’ Egypt’s economy grew by 5.6 percent in the first half of FY2014/15, roughly five times the 1.4 percent growth during the same period the previous year. The unemployment rate fell to 12.8 percent in the first three months of 2015, compared to 13.4 percent in the same period a year ago. In 2014, Egypt received $18 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)—an increase of 42 per cent—making it #1 in Africa – the world’s fastest growing region for FDI. Meanwhile, our tourism industry continues to rebound from past uncertainty. Tourism revenues jumped to nearly $4 billion during the first half of the FY 2014/15 compared to $1.9 billion last year. Cairo hotel occupancy increased 150 percent in 2014. Egypt has always been a major trade partner in the region with a variety of regional trade agreements with the EU, COMESA, GAFTA and numerous free and preferential trade agreements with individual Arab countries, which give Egyptian products access to different regional markets. Building on that, Egypt hosted the Tripartite Summit of the Heads of State and Government in Sharm El Sheikh on June 10th, 2015. The summit launched the Tripartite Free Trade Area, which includes (COMESA), (EAC) and (SADC). The Tripartite FTA is a major step forward towards the establishment of the African Economic Community, as it consists of 26 Member States with more than 625 million people and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 1.2 Trillion which makes up 57% of the population of the African Union (AU). We continue to deepen economic ties with the United States. The Qualifying Industrial Zone program supports thousands of Egyptian jobs while stimulating millions in exports to the U.S. Expanding this program and restoring the Generalized System of Preference would be to the benefit of both countries. During the EEDC, American firms like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Electric and General Motors announced new major corporate investment in Egypt. Egypt’s economic growth and modernization means extending new prosperity and opportunity to all of our citizens. It also offers additional prospects for international investors and strengthens mutually beneficial engagement with governments across the globe. In the end, economic prosperity is a critical component of a stable and secure Egypt. This allows Egypt to remain the cornerstone of a prosperous, stable and tolerant Middle East and North Africa, a fundamental strategic commercial and security imperative for both our nation and the United States.   Tawfik has been the Egyptian ambassador to the U.S. since September 2012. Previously, he served at ambassadorial postings in Lebanon and Australia. He also worked at the Egyptian Permanent Mission to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva from 1997-2002.

The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.

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The New Egypt: A Platform for Prosperity

Cairo, Oct 15: The city of Cairo is densely packed with old residential buildings, October 15, 2014, Cairo, Egypt ** Note: Visible grain at 100%, best at smaller sizes
September 9, 2015

One year ago, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, in his first address to the United Nation’s General Assembly, described his vision for a “New Egypt,” one built on “growth, prosperity, and a promising future that meets the aspirations of its people.” Over the past dozen months, we have seen the emerging fulfillment of that vision, cultivating a prosperous and stable future for our citizens and our country. While various megaprojects such as Capital Cairo and the Suez Canal expansion—which will create jobs, spur innovation and stimulate economic activity—grab headlines, Egypt is stimulating the investments necessary to reinvigorate our industrial, commercial and entrepreneurial sectors. We are developing the Golden Triangle Area to take advantage of the area’s rich mineral reserves, increasing development on the northwest coast and desert hinterland, expanding access to new and affordable housing, modernizing transit infrastructure as well as establishing a global logistics center for grain storage. During the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC), dozens of deals worth billions of dollars were announced across a diverse array of sectors, marking a down payment on future growth and prosperity. We have secured billions to develop diverse and sustainable sources of energy including natural gas, solar and wind. We aim to have renewables comprise 20 percent of the country’s energy generation by 2020 and have already received bids for nearly 4 gigawatts-worth of solar and wind projects. This will ease the strain on a growing population and pump new revenue streams into our economy. At the same time, we have reduced and rationalized Egypt’s energy subsidy that previously absorbed roughly 20 percent of the entire budget. Thanks to these reforms, subsidy spending fell 30 percent during the first half of this year compared to last. Egypt has reduced barriers for new international investment and commerce by eliminating burdensome legal and bureaucratic obstacles while introducing a new unified investment law. This is a key step toward ensuring a fair and business-friendly environment for foreign investors. Amendments to our competition and anti-monopoly code will kindle a more competitive economy while the new uniform investment law will make investing in Egypt a more streamlined and attainable process. Altogether, these measures have produced strong economic results and reaffirming assessments. The International Monetary Fund improved its growth outlook for Egypt to 4 percent, doubling last year’s rate. Fitch and Moody’s have upgraded Egypt’s credit and bond ratings while Standard and Poor’s raised its evaluation to ‘positive.’ Egypt’s economy grew by 5.6 percent in the first half of FY2014/15, roughly five times the 1.4 percent growth during the same period the previous year. The unemployment rate fell to 12.8 percent in the first three months of 2015, compared to 13.4 percent in the same period a year ago. In 2014, Egypt received $18 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)—an increase of 42 per cent—making it #1 in Africa – the world’s fastest growing region for FDI. Meanwhile, our tourism industry continues to rebound from past uncertainty. Tourism revenues jumped to nearly $4 billion during the first half of the FY 2014/15 compared to $1.9 billion last year. Cairo hotel occupancy increased 150 percent in 2014. Egypt has always been a major trade partner in the region with a variety of regional trade agreements with the EU, COMESA, GAFTA and numerous free and preferential trade agreements with individual Arab countries, which give Egyptian products access to different regional markets. Building on that, Egypt hosted the Tripartite Summit of the Heads of State and Government in Sharm El Sheikh on June 10th, 2015. The summit launched the Tripartite Free Trade Area, which includes (COMESA), (EAC) and (SADC). The Tripartite FTA is a major step forward towards the establishment of the African Economic Community, as it consists of 26 Member States with more than 625 million people and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 1.2 Trillion which makes up 57% of the population of the African Union (AU). We continue to deepen economic ties with the United States. The Qualifying Industrial Zone program supports thousands of Egyptian jobs while stimulating millions in exports to the U.S. Expanding this program and restoring the Generalized System of Preference would be to the benefit of both countries. During the EEDC, American firms like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Electric and General Motors announced new major corporate investment in Egypt. Egypt’s economic growth and modernization means extending new prosperity and opportunity to all of our citizens. It also offers additional prospects for international investors and strengthens mutually beneficial engagement with governments across the globe. In the end, economic prosperity is a critical component of a stable and secure Egypt. This allows Egypt to remain the cornerstone of a prosperous, stable and tolerant Middle East and North Africa, a fundamental strategic commercial and security imperative for both our nation and the United States.   Tawfik has been the Egyptian ambassador to the U.S. since September 2012. Previously, he served at ambassadorial postings in Lebanon and Australia. He also worked at the Egyptian Permanent Mission to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva from 1997-2002.

The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.