Egypt's bourse chief Dr. Mohamed Omran is currently in New York city to take part in Egypt Economic Reform Forum organized by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and is scheduled from September 23-25th, 2013 at the Pocantico Center. The three-day conference, entitled A Dialogue to Advance Egypt's Economic Prosperity: A way forward,' aims to "create a framework for an Egypt National Economic Council, which would support Egyptian authorities in developing a sound economic plan for Egypt's future," according to the event's mission statement. Besides Dr. Omran, the Egyptian speakers and attendees will include: Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of International Cooperation Ziad Bahaa-Eldin, Minister of Investment Osama Saleh, Dean of the Faculty of Economics & Political Science at Cairo University Hala El-Said, prominent businessman Samih Sawiris, and Head of the Commercial International Bank - Egypt's largest private sector lender - Hisham Ezz Al-Arab. Among international attendees is Christopher Jarvis, the International Monetary Fund Mission Chief for Egypt. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund is a private, family foundation helping to advance social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. It was created in 1940 by the sons of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The brothers' interests in the environment, civil society, and international affairs shape the Fund's work to this day through grantmaking programs that advance solutions to climate change, strengthen the vitality of democracy, and create the conditions for just and durable peace in the United States and in selected other countries and regions around the world. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund is committed to supporting inclusive dialogue and pragmatic engagement by the Egyptian people on key issues of national economic advancement, and is honored to be a part of such a focused effort to promote balanced growth in Egypt. Egypt's interim government, installed after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July, is still coming to grips with the decline of the country's economy since the January 2011 revolution. The budget deficit has grown by a whopping 78 percent since the 2010/2011 fiscal year, reaching 14 percent of GDP. Economic growth, which peaked at 7.2 percent in June 2008 before the global financial crisis took its toll, has slowed to an average of 2.3 percent, and the official unemployment rate has risen to 13.3 percent from 8.9 percent in the first quarter of 2011.
