Alexandria--At a conference devoted to investment opportunities in Egypt's Nile Delta on Tuesday, Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohie Eddin strongly objected to the proposed nationalization of certain private companies. "Workers cannot request that the government nationalize the private companies they work for that have gone bankrupt," he said. According to the minister, the public sector provides jobs for only 1.5 percent of the total Egyptian labor force. "Even if this figure reaches five percent, it still won't cover the roughly 700,000 fresh graduates that enter the local labor market every year," he said, pointing out that the the private sector would continue to play a vital role in this respect. "Nationalization lacks constitutionality. It has even disappeared from the former communist states," Mohi Eddin said, asserting that the government had provided labor laws aimed at protecting workers. "The government supports small- and medium-sized businesses, which constitute the backbone of the national economy," Mohi Eddin explained. The minister went on to voice objections to the proposed formation of a supreme council for investment. "Supreme councils can set policies, but they cannot solve problems," he said. "Besides, the Council of Ministers is already mandated with doing this." On the free zone benefits that accrue to certain investment projects, the minister said that only those projects that created job opportunities would be granted free-zone privileges. "Free zones are known for smuggling activities," he said. "But we managed to bring this under control by issuing more stringent regulations." Translated from the Arabic Edition.
