Development has been and will remain the main goal of successive governments of Egypt. Since the first five-year plan (1960-1965) until now, governments adopted a gamut of policies that had positive effects in some respects, and also entailed negative consequences in others. The outcome of successive development goals is fairly modest compared to other countries that started development drives around the same time as Egypt, such as South Korea. The shortcomings of development policies lead to social and economic disruptions that in turn lead to two revolutions in just three years: the 25 January 2011 and 30 June 2013 Revolutions. These two revolutions are warning signs to the new president. At this critical point and while Egypt has a new president we should have a clear-cut vision on development. It must be understood from the beginning that the common conception of development as economic advancement is no longer satisfactory. Egypt needs a kind of development that includes a whole range of economic, social and cultural advances for every citizen. We should not waste too much time in deciding whether to follow the approach of grow now, trickle down later, or the approach of growth with equity. Of course each approach has its pros and cons, but the most important point is to formulate the objectives of development clearly. In 1991, the World Bank in its World Development Report asserted that the challenge of development is to improve quality of life, especially in the world's poor countries. Development that secures a better quality of life generally calls for higher incomes, but it also involves much more. Development encompasses as ends in themselves better education, higher standards of health and nutrition, less poverty, a cleaner environment, more equality of opportunity, greater individual freedom and a richer cultural life. The broad sense of development outlined by the World Bank becomes a must for Egypt, especially after two revolutions. At this critical time, Egypt should think of development in the same way advocated by the World Bank. To make myself clear, to reach a standard of development that is inclusive and sustainable we have to look first for the challenges of development in Egypt. It is crystal clear that the factors that hinder development in Egypt include education, weak industrialisation, overpopulation, corruption and before all that — and most importantly — a lack of clear vision at times. The first challenge is education. If we put all that Egypt did in the past on development aside, and decided to make stronger approach, then we need to reconsider the education system. Any talk about development in the context of the current educational system will be in vain. A mere look at the situation of education in the Egyptian Competitiveness Reports tells us that the educational system in Egypt is still far behind what is needed to push the development process ahead. The starting point is to reconsider education from the basic level to the graduate level. Improving the quality of education is a daunting challenge in the development march in Egypt. The Asian “tigers” would not have been able to achieve impressive progress in development without solid educational grounds that enabled them to be highly competitive in manufacturing. South Korea, for example, experienced rapid and sustained development due to a combination of social and economic factors, the key factor being educational. South Korea had high levels of industriousness and literacy among its people, both of which Egypt lacks in a flagrant manner. In Egypt, alas, education lags behind that of most countries. The fifth edition of the Egyptian Competitiveness Report put it very clear. The report mentioned that Egypt dropped to 77th place from 71st in the preceding report, and that the reason for this was mainly the weak score in basic education and labour market factors. In basic education, Egypt ranked 126th out of 131 countries. The other shocking factor was efficiency of labour market. Egypt was ranked 130th out of 131 countries, the report revealed. These two indicators imply that there is much to be done to enhance education and accordingly the development process in Egypt. The importance of education can be derived from a statement of a Japanese minister who said: “Basic education for all transmitted us from a third grade state to a second grade state. As for good technical education, it transmitted us from a second grade state to a first grade state.” The second challenge is weak industrialisation. Egypt is at the threshold of a new era that necessitates social and economic change after two revolutions in three years. The inspired change can take place through different mechanisms, on the top of which is industrialisation. In the last two centuries, industrialisation in Egypt witnessed ups and downs that deprived Egypt from taking advantage of capital accumulation. Therefore, Egypt has been lagging behind other countries that began their industrialisation much later than Egypt. The main dilemma of industrialisation is the lack of capital accumulation. Capital accumulation must be a sustainable strategy through improvements of productivity via enhancing public management, a conducive environment for flexible performance in the private sector, and most importantly, technological innovation. The third challenge is overpopulation. Egypt's population grows at two per cent annually, while economic growth rate at the moment is 1.2 per cent, which means there is negative growth by -0.8 per cent. It should be crystal clear that there is no real development in Egypt unless solid and concrete population policies are adopted to cap the chronic increase in population to one per cent at the most. The problem of population in Egypt is not only numbers, but also the uneven distribution of population and its age structure. Nearly 60 per cent of Egypt's population is youth who need jobs and houses. The fourth challenge is corruption. As a starting point, corruption — as defined by the International Monetary Fund — is the use of public office for private gain. It is a symptom of dysfunctional public institutions. In his valuable book, My Recommendation to My Country, Ibrahim Shihata said about corruption in Egypt: “As a matter of fact corruption in Egypt is a multi-dimensional and complicated issue that can be attributed to economic, political, social, legal, managerial, cultural and moral considerations. Fighting corruption necessitates examining these considerations and dealing with them all in the same time. The possibilities of corruption are accumulating with the increasing role of the state and the absence of controlling bodies capable to fight corruption efficiently and honestly, and the increasing authority of public officials concerning the allocation of public utilities, public services and government subsidies, and with weak punishment in cases of misuse of authority.” Corruption has a significant and deleterious effect on economic development. It leads to misallocations of resources, unfair distributions of income and wealth, deters private sector investment, restricts poverty reduction efforts, breeds negative work ethics and as a result of these hinders economic development. The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 of Transparency International showed that public officials and civil servants in Egypt reached 4.0 on the corruption scale while the global average is 3.6, which means corruption in Egypt is above the global average. Now we come to the core question: What kind of development do Egyptians aspire for? Development in Egypt should be a multidimensional process, as per the prescriptions of the World Bank — a process that causes major changes in social structures, popular attitudes and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality, and the eradication of poverty. A process in its essence that represents the whole gamut of change by which an entire system is turned to serve diverse basics needs and the desires of individuals and social groups within the system. Development should provide conditions of life materially and spiritually better for all citizens without exception. The development we aspire for should be based on the principle of equal rights for all and special privilege for none. Egyptians need development that is sustained, creative of productive jobs, socially inclusive and ensures equal access to economic opportunities — development that provides a social safety net to protect the chronically poor and mitigates risks of livelihood shocks. Egyptians need a development that is societal rather than elitist — development that furnishes a moral right of choice. In conclusion, the government of Egypt should take bold steps on many fronts at the same time, and get its priorities right. It should start with overhauling the educational system, deepening industrialisation, implementing solid and effective population policies and embracing good governance. The writer is a PhD researcher at Cairo University and general manager of anti-dumping department in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment.
