CAIRO: Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said Sunday Egypt will continue to be a free market economy, but that this will be accompanied by policies that achieve social justice and welfare. After the Egyptian government announced wage reform plans and allowed independent workers' unions to form in light of an all out assault on businessmen by the media, many feel uncertain about the economic direction the country is headed in the wake of the revolution. However, these fears may be quelled by Sharaf's announcement. Sharaf met with delegations of businessmen from the Egyptian Businessmen Association (EBA) and the Egyptian Junior Businessmen Association (EJBA) to discuss how the revolution has changed the economic future of the country and ways to overcome the obstacles posed by political uncertainty, increased bureaucracy and rampant corruption that impede investment and economic wellbeing. The meeting was also attended by the Ministers of Manpower, Trade and Industry, Finance and Planning. Hussein Sabbour, chairman of the EBA, told Daily News Egypt he was optimistic after the meeting and that the ministers had agreed to most of their requests. “I really felt that the Prime Minister and the ministers present understood our concerns and were ready to take action,” he said. Amer Elwy, executive director of EJBA, which according to him has 650 members with 350,000 employees, was also optimistic. “Since the meeting we have been extremely optimistic and we have seen actions taken in the last 24 hours, the optimism comes from the positive response from the government and their ministries, which are very hands on and proactive,” he said. Sharaf assured the businessmen that the sense of security in the country, which they had called for, can be achieved quickly through the efforts of the armed forces and the police, but it will be achieved in the long term by ensuring social justice. According to Sabbour and Elwy, security was the top priority for both delegations whose demands were mostly similar. Sharaf also agreed with them that the fight against corruption should start immediately but should not tarnish the image of the businessmen which was another major concern for both delegations. “If we open any newspaper, we find half of the articles about corruption of businessmen,” Sabbour said. “That can't be all our focus. There are corrupt businessmen, and there are businessmen who have added value to the community by creating jobs and attracting investments. These cannot be dealt with equally as most of the media is doing now,” he added. According to Elwy, the EJBA suggested that the government coordinate community awareness campaigns about the importance of the role of the businesses in the community and the rights and duties of the stakeholders in terms of workers and employers. EJBA also asked for the protection of businessmen whose names are being mentioned in the papers, until they are proven guilty. The ongoing workers' protests were also another main concern for both parties. The Minister of Labor was asked to suspend negotiations with workers who are leading to a halt in production. While both Sabbour and Elwy said the workers had the right to protest, they claimed that this was detrimental to the economy and so called on the protests to stop. However, Sabbour said that the government's decision Sunday to allow the formation of independent workers' unions and syndicates and offering them capacity building and training was a positive step for businesses as it would facilitate the negotiation process, eventually leading to a resumption of production. “Freedom to form unions and create syndicates should be above all else, and I am personally happy about this because I did not like the State Security involvement in the Engineers' Syndicate which I am a part of,” he said. A large part of the meeting was dedicated to address the deteriorating business climate in Egypt. “We suggested that the government take into account a very useful study about the business climate in Egypt and the necessary solutions which was prepared by the EBA and presented to the previous government and was clearly put on the shelf, but Prime Minister Sharaf was prepared to look into it,” Sabbour said. The EJBA gave detailed suggestions on facilitating issues regarding small and medium businesses which they represent. It suggested financing for small and medium-sized exporters, tax incentives for projects that start or plan to expand in 2011, facilitating the granting of licenses for operation of factories, continuing export subsidies and private sector involvement and consultation in any government decision which affects the private sector, such as minimum wage and succession in addition to many other policies and strategies. According to Elwy, these were all taken into account by the relevant ministries. “We already had a meeting with the Minister of Manpower and plan to meet with the Minister of Trade and Industry soon. This would have never happened with this speed before,” he added.
