President demands swift reconstruction of public sector, maximising return

Administrative, financial, technical and operational restructuring programs for development of assets: Minister of Investment

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi demanded that the returns from the public business sector be maximised through continued restructuring and development works to make a profit.
He stressed, during a Monday meeting with Minister of Investment Ashraf Salman, the importance of maintaining efforts to promote investment and provide a suitable environment to attract direct Arab and foreign investments.
Al-Sisi affirmed that it is vital to move ahead in order to benefit from the unused assets of these companies and turn them into productive sectors. This move will contribute effectively to the improvement of local product quality and the availability of intermediate inputs for the Egyptian industry sector, so as to provide hard currency and increase exports.
Presidential Spokesperson Alaa Yousef said Salman reviewed the procedures adopted to ease investment procedures and develop the ministry's performance during the meeting, particularly regarding start-up companies.
This sector witnessed a remarkable development, since it increased to 863 companies per month during the fiscal year (FY) 2014 / 2015, compared to 477 companies in the previous fiscal year, Yousef said, noting that the ministry aims to increase this number to about 1,000 companies per month.
The minister said he has created a fast track for establishing start-ups, which helped launch 1,125 companies from November 2015 until the end of January 2016.
The minister asserted that a reform plan has been conducted in the public business sector, including administrative, financial, technical and operational restructuring programmes, by applying specific criteria to assess performance. In addition, it aims to benefit from unused assets, implement projects in partnership with the private sector, and develop many assets owned by companies to make them productive.
"The performance of 70 companies affiliated to public business sector has been improved. A number of sectors in public business sector have achieved earnings over 40%, including the transport, tourism and construction sectors," the minister added. Moreover, some of the trading companies began to make profit in partnership with the private sector.
Salman reviewed foreign direct investment inflows in Egypt, which rose during FY 2014/ 2015 by 65.1% to a record $6.4bn, compared to about $4.1bn during the previous FY 2013/2014. He highlighted the large contribution of manufacturing industries in direct foreign investment rates.
Regarding the settlement of private investment disputes, the minister pointed out that the ministerial committee concluded 156 investment disputes since the first meeting in August 2015 and until the end of January 2016.
Yousef added that the Minister of Investment referred to the approved conduct in order to improve the performance of the investment sector, which has achieved a number of positive results: Misr Insurance Company and Misr Life Insurance received international ratings and were considered the best insurance companies in the Middle East.