The Ministry of Planning has announced intentions to hold a conference for "donor countries" to Egypt before the end of the year and following the completion of parliamentary elections. Nihal Al-Megharbel, adviser to the Minister of Planning Ashraf El-Araby, made the remarks Monday on the sidelines of a conference to sign agreements for funding slum development. Al-Megharbel said: "The sectors we will focus on attracting investments for throughout the conference are housing, tourism, transportation, and energy." King Abdallah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud called for an international conference to provide economic aid to Egypt, a move welcomed by the Egyptian government. Arrangements for the conference are being made in collaboration with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Al-Megharbel added that the government hopes to achieve growth rates of 3.5% during the 2014/2015 fiscal year to provide youth employment opportunities and to control inflation. This will be achieved by decreasing the budget deficit and encouraging greater production and exports. He pointed out that the government is currently working to establish the company announced by the prime minister to employ workers with EGP 10bn in capital. The goal is to provide approximately 1 million jobs over four years. He said that the percentage of government contributions to the company's capital will range between 10-20% and the remainder will be funded by the private sector and international institutions. The company will operate in all governorates, with a focus on fields relating to recycling solid and agricultural waste as well as agricultural and production activities suited to the natureof each governorate.
