Minister of Investment Ashraf Salman stated that there are six projects for which final feasibility studies have been completed to be showcased at the Egypt Economic Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in February, with investments worth $1.25bn. Salman said the government was fighting to complete feasibility studies for national projects such as the Golden Triangle Project, developing the northwestern Sahel, reclaiming 4m acres of land, and constructing 3,000km of roads. Feasibility studies for cash flows are expected to be finished before the summit as these projects already have plans developed and need only to be updated and revised through local investment banks. The government will also present the Cairo Airport City plan to investors during the summit, and feasibility study revisions are currently underway through investment bank participation. The minister confirmed that the summit will be held in February, and said there is no intention to postponing the conference, as Egypt's political leadership committed to this date during United Nations meetings in Washington. Salman said that the business sector will participate in the summit through six projects with investments worth $1.25bn for which feasibility studies are ready. "I do not accept projects being tendered and promoted before final plans and independent, integrated financial and technical studies are completed," said Salman. However, the Suez Canal Axis project will be presented as an idea with its general scheme to come in the future. "The state is concerned with diversifying investments and opportunities offered," Salman said, insisting that there is significant global interest in this project, as well as in new and renewable energy initiatives. General schemes for industrial, service, and tourism areas will be determined before they are promoted. The minister stated that the unified investment law will be approved before the end of the year, adding that the ‘one-stop shop' system will transformed into the only source of licensing, which means that the entanglement of various government agencies that currently impede this law will cease. According to Salman, the executive regulations of the law will protect investors from nationalisation as well as ensuring their entering and exiting of the market in dollars. The regulations will also set out a unified mechanism to settle investment disputes, and the law will prohibit any regulatory body from investing.
