CAIRO: In the new Egypt many business leaders are concerned that the recent past of liberalization and free markets could be reduced by the ruling military junta as Egypt struggles to get the country's economy back on track. At a meeting with local business leaders this week in Cairo, Egypt's Finance Minister Hazem El-Beblawi tried to reassure investors that the government would not revoke its previous contractual commitments as long as it adheres to the law. He said the government was in the process of reviewing some of its previous commitments to ensure that they are in-line with all related regulations and legislation. “Egypt will not back down on a free market economy, but the state has to be strong and able to enforce the law, and protect competition” said Beblawy at the meeting. “The world must know the January 25 Revolution happened in Egypt to re-establish reverence for the rule of law.” Beblawy commented on the proposed minimum wage law that the government is currently trying to push into Egypt, but business leaders are not pleased about the possible increase in what they are forced to pay employees. They questioned Beblawy and the finance ministry's push for the minimum wage. “Why a minimum wage now?” asked Gala El-Zorba, head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries in comments published by al-Ahram newspaper. But the minimum wage is one of the focal points of many Egyptian activists' calls for social justice, arguing that a minimum wage would enable the greater population to enter the overall economic structure of Egypt. BM
