CAIRO: Sustaining higher growth rates, tackling unemployment, and combating poverty are just some of the issues Egypt needs to tackle before it can successfully foray Into the Second Wave. "The economy looks very strong, and the process of reform over the past four years [has been] very well handled, said Richard Ensor, managing director of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. "Still, there are issues that need to be handled. At the end of the Euromoney Egypt Conference 2007 - after two days of talks about a successful year for the economy and the challenges facing Egypt's continued development - Ensor stressed the importance of maintaining high growth levels, building infrastructure, reducing inflation rates, and job creation. "Another important issue is the wealth that is being created, he added. "It creates dissatisfaction in the poorer segments of society, and [we need to see] the trickle-down effect actually take place. Land reform and infrastructure, he pointed out, also require significant amounts of investment and are quite hefty to get right. "The private sector also needs to do a lot to make business more competitive internationally, he said. "We've seen large improvements in non-petroleum sectors but they are still low base. They need to grow substantially within the next years, and there is a huge emphasis on the private sector to perform. Founded in 1969 and listed on the Stock Exchanges in London and Luxembourg, Euromoney Institutional Investor is a leading international business-to-business publisher, focused primarily on international finance. Euromoney is also the world's leading organizer of conferences for cross-border investment and capital markets, portfolio and direct investors, financial intermediaries, corporations, governments, banks, as well as financial institutions. "The concept of the conference is to bring together people that matter in Egypt, [be it] the government, the community, or those interested in investment in Egypt, stated Ensor. "And the conference achieved that this year and had a phenomenal turnout. The conference was a full house this year. Speakers and attendees included leading Cabinet figures as well as influential business leaders, financial analysts, and bankers from EFG-Hermes, International Finance Corporation, Beltone Financial, Banque Misr, Credit Agricole Egypt, Barclay's, Ahli United Bank, Commercial International Bank, SODIC, Vodafone, among others. "This year, the conference was trying to suggest that the first wave has been very successful. The government has been very brave on [several decisions] such as tax reductions, and economic reforms have been very exciting. Ensor mentioned that construction and energy sectors, particularly offshore gas, have been a phenomenal success story. "The mobile phone sector is another phenomenal success and will continue to be. Penetration is sill [below] 30 percent; therefore, there is terrific scope. Foreign direct investment (FDI) was another success story he mentioned that indicated that Egypt was open enough for business with FDIs growing from a few million to $11 billion in the last fiscal year. "We need to see a great deal more of what Egypt needs to do to make it more attractive to foreign direct investments and achieve more growth, he stated. "We need to see more companies come and use Egypt as a hub for their activities and [thus] further tariff reductions. He added that the government needed to put more emphasis on human resource training and on labor-intensive sectors. He continued saying that a lot of improvement remains to be seen in the governmental sector "which is not as efficiently managed as it should be. "So, it [the conference] is emphasizing that a second wave needs to take place. It is placing higher confidence that the government will achieve more reform and hence [the title] 'Into the second wave'.
