The Egyptian Bourse will be hosting its second annual conference for investment in the stock market, aiming to support initial public offerings (IPOs) and capital increases. It will be held under the patronage of Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab. The summit represents an important opportunity for compatibility among the most promising companies that have expansion and growth opportunities and wants to get financing, and between the financial institutions and investment banks that have the ability to restructure those companies and to offer them through the Egyptian Exchange. The conference exhibits the promising investment opportunities in the Egyptian market with a focus on the legislative and regulatory infrastructure development witnessed by the market during the recent period. The conference includes a ministerial session that will be attend by a number of the economic group' ministers to discuss the governmental directions to benefit of the Egyptian capital market in the state‐owned companies restructuring and to assist them in increasing their capital, so as to increase their profits, in addition to the possibility of financing mega projects through IPOs which leads to the public participation in financing the government's projects. The conference also discusses the ways to maximize the public funds' return on investment. The event will include a special session to review successful experiences of companies that have performed IPOs in the past periods and the extent of benefit and progress for those companies by listing in the stock market. A large number of foreign financial institutions are invited to the conference to get closer of the available investment opportunities which help to attract more local and foreign investments to the Egyptian market. From his part, Mohamed Omran – Chairman of Egyptian Exchange (EGX) - said that this conference represents a major factor in the stock exchange' main function which is helping companies to obtain financing through the exposure to a large number of local and foreign investors, so to increase their ability to grow and expand and thereby adding new productive capacities contribute to the unemployment absorption in the Egyptian economy. Also those companies' expansion and growth will contribute significantly in supporting the economic development and will increase the GDP growth rates. Omran pointed: "We are targeting to increase the market depth by attracting new number of promising companies after the great achievement resulted of the last year IPO conference, by listing more than 20 companies with a capital of more than 5 billion Egyptian pounds, which is almost the highest rate since the Nineties". Moreover, the Egyptian official stressed that attracting new companies and providing the necessary funding is a strategic direction for EGX's management, notably with the large governmental support enjoyed by The Egyptian Exchange in the recent periods and what's emphasized by the government of the importance of benefiting from the stock market in supporting the economic development.
