Minister of Investment Yehia Hamed said that his ministry was currently reviewing a new investment plan that would catalogue new opportunities available in all of the country's economic sectors. In a recent statement made at the 40th annual conference of the African Investment Organisation (AIO), hosted in Cairo on Monday, Hamed said that the country's new plan will include details on all investment opportunities available in the country in an attempt to help investors make informed decisions as to which sectors to do business. He added that he expects Egypt's economy to grow 4% in 2014, with this number increasing to 6% in 2016, saying that the government currently sought to include both the public and private sectors in working to pursue comprehensive economic development in Egypt. He further said that growth and development would be impossible without including Egypt's businesses and the private sector, saying that the government was working to help decrease the backlog and congestion seen throughout the country's private sector since the outbreak of the 2011 revolution. He added that in the coming months great efforts would be made to support reconciliation efforts between the government and private sector, in an attempt to restore the confidence of foreign investors seeking to do business in the country. Hamed said that the government currently seeks to pursue a new three dimensional economic policy based on openness and transparency with businessmen and investors in a way that guaranteed the legal rights of all parties involved. He further stated that the Egyptian economy had proved resilient since the revolution, achieving growth despite the difficult circumstances facing the country, which at some points led to the large scale shutting down of production. He added that the government was currently trying to transform Egypt from a consumer into a producer country. Hamed said that the Ministry of Investment had recently obtained approval from the country's cabinet allowing Egypt's governors and governorates to be more involved in decisions made by the ministry, particularly that which had to do with bids taking place in various provinces throughout the country, in addition to amending articles 7 and 8 of the country's law regulating investment. He further stated that Egypt's cabinet had granted the ministry approval to amend the country's mergers and acquisitions law, particularly that which had to do with the sale of companies and privatisation. After the 2011 revolution, he said, laws were passed nullifying the privatisation of companies that took place in the years prior to the revolution, laws which Hamed described as impractical and difficult to implement. He said that these new amendments, however, would guarantee both the rights of the state and that of owners and investors with regards to factories or companies owned. He added that Egypt and a number of other African countries faced challenges in this sector, particularly after the global economic recession of 2008. During this period, the average rate of growth for developing countries fell from 4% of GDP to 3%. Hamed stated that Egypt's insurance sector was affected more than other industries as a result of the global economic recession. Despite this, he said, the country was still able to achieve high levels of growth in the years following, reaching 8% in 2012.
