Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb and Minister of Finance Hany Kadry Dimian met US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew Monday, at the three day US-Africa summit in Washington DC. Melheb praised Egyptian-US cooperation during the meeting, adding that Egypt could be the connection point between the US and Africa, given Egypt's significant and historical presence in the continent. He also said that there is a wide space for "south-south" cooperation that Egypt can lead. Mehleb said Egypt would organise a conference for all its development "partners" by the end of the year or the beginning of 2015. He added that he looked forward to the participation of American business circles, and to making use of the enormous development projects that will be presented during the conference and that are good investment opportunities for the US. Mehleb said that Egypt is rich with manpower and economic resources, as well as investment opportunities that can be rediscovered. The reforms Egypt has recently been through coincide with social and economic procedures to balance economic goals without affecting the limited income class, Mehleb added. The Egyptian government has lately increased the prices of all fuel types, electricity and natural gas, as well as ration cards commodities and other products and services. The reductions come after the finance ministry's reduction of allocations for petroleum subsidies by approximately EGP 41bn, bringing the total allocations for subsidies to EGP 100.3bn. Lew asserted the US support of these economic reforms, according to a Monday Egyptian cabinet statement. Mehleb added that Egypt is capable of facing internal and external challenges, with its stability currently being the biggest challenge. Mehleb, Dimian and the Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour arrived Sunday in Washington. The summit is to end on 6 August.
