German Ambassador to Egypt, Cyrill Nunn, saluted Egypt's public health services, which he hailed as one of the best in the region. Nunn said, "We all see how Egypt has managed, despite the high case numbers from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), to keep casualties relatively low, and this would not be possible without modern technology and an adequate stock of supplies, besides professional medical staff." On Wednesday, the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce-AHK held a medical and healthcare webinar, to focus on increasing German investments in Egypt. The webinar also sought to discuss the trading activities in healthcare and medical services between Egypt and Germany. During the webinar, Nunn added that every government has to find a strategy balancing the protection of its citizens against an economic necessity strategy that fits local condition best. "There were restrictions in all countries, but so far there has been success in mobilising the health system, and now with the reopening of businesses and the gradual easing of restrictions the real experiment is about to start," he said. "We will see research of cases and we will manage to keep the infection under reasonable control." The German Embassy in Cairo is following up on the developments in Egypt with keen interest. Health sector business is no exception to this, but it still requires a legal framework and good investment climate. Nunn added that Egypt has worked hard in recent years to improve both, which has encouraged Germany to support the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decision to approve funds. This will go towards supporting Egypt to maintain its achievements and combat the coronavirus, whilst remaining able to continue structural reforms, the ambassador disclosed. He added, "In my opinion, Egypt has good experience in the health sector, and German companies are so far are interested to engage." With its pharmaceutical industry and growing pharmaceutical research efforts, Egypt should now invest heavily in this field. The country's government has set aside finance in its new budget for developing this sector, which will protect the health of its citizens. It is also anticipated that Egypt will start exporting locally-produced pharmaceuticals to other countries, the ambassador said. Nunn elaborated that other emerging markets are facing the full force of global competition, and there is a little room for Egypt to slack in its economic reforms. International financial institutions have noted that Egypt is set to be the one and very exceptional country that would see GDP growth this year, despite the economic hardships caused by the global health crisis. This does, however, require that Egypt diversifies its industry and the inflowing foreign direct investments, Nunn added. He said, "The Egyptian cabinet said the structural reforms which started in 2016 have enabled the country to face the impacts of the coronavirus. However, structural reforms have to be maintained to increase competitiveness, which will open heath sector for private players to make best use of the private sectors to invest and create jobs."
