CAIRO: Bureaucracy is a major obstacle to development, Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid told a gathering of businessmen Tuesday. At a press conference organized by the Egyptian-French Business Association at the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel, Rachid said that more effort should be exerted to allow the average Egyptian citizen to feel the fruits of the economic growth that Egypt has witnessed in the last three years. He indicated that three years ago no one could have ever dreamt that we can increase our Gross Domestic Product [GDP] from three to seven percent. Although Rachid said that the private sector is performing an astonishing feat and there are more than 1,400 new companies waiting for a location to start their business in Egypt due to the government s enhanced investment policies, the average Egyptian is untouched by this growth. Our job now is to make the normal citizen feel the development.some people already felt the effect but we have a huge population and it is a long journey to make 70 million citizens experience the difference, Rachid said. He acknowledged that Egypt faces problems in the transportation, education and health sectors and stated that the government is not waiting for funds to create development but is trying to undergo changes in the management systems in of those sectors, which he believes will lead to progress. Bureaucracy still exists in some governmental institutions. We have about six million government employees and I am afraid to say that some are not doing much and some are doing unneeded work, Rachid said. Another point Rachid stressed was the fact that "rich get more governmental subsidies on products because they purchase more products. This, he believed was a situation that needed to be rectified. I know that it is hard to ask to reduce the number of civil servants or to decrease government subsidies, but we have to struggle to use our assets in the most effective to enhance our path towards development, Rachid said. Mistakes will happen, he said, but promised that the government promises to be open about them to "speak about them and learn from them. The event was held to celebrate the increase of investment and trade between Egypt and France in particular and in Europe in general. By year 2010 we will have a free trade agreement between Egypt and the Mediterranean countries, announced Rachid. We are in the final process of achieving a neighborhood policy between Egypt and Europe which will provide huge facilities and investment opportunities, he added.
