Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting on Sunday to follow up on the implementation of the initiative to reduce the prices of basic commodities. The meeting was attended by Ali Moselhi, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade; Elsayed Elkosayer, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation; Ahmed Elwakel, Head of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce; Mohamed El-Sweedy, President of the Federation of Egyptian Industries; Alaa Ezz, Secretary-General of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce; Mahmoud Moutaz, Head of the Egyptian Competition Authority; Mohamed Abou Moussa, First Sub Governor of the Central Bank; Essam El Naggar, Head of the General Authority for Export and Import Control; Anwar El-Abd, Deputy Chairperson of the Egyptian Poultry Association; Mona Nasser, Assistant Minister of Finance for Follow-up Affairs, Project Management, and Customs Development; Essam Shaath, Assistant Minister of Local Development for Local Administration Affairs; and Al-Shahat Ghatouri, Head of the Customs Authority. The Prime Minister said that the meeting was part of a series of periodic meetings to monitor the progress of the initiative to reduce the prices of basic commodities. He also mentioned the reports that were prepared by officials on the ground since the launch of the initiative, which showed the discounts that were applied to various targeted commodities. He stressed that the goal of these meetings was to solve any problems or obstacles that might arise during the implementation of the initiative, which would help ease the burden on citizens. He added that a working group would be formed from various relevant authorities to propose solutions to any challenges facing the initiative. The Minister of Supply stated that the initiative had a positive impact on the Egyptian public, and praised the participation and commitment of major commercial chains in implementing it. He noted that many other commercial chains wanted to join the initiative. The Minister of Supply presented a list of suppliers of various foodstuffs that participated in the initiative, along with the discounts they announced and applied. He said that they were constantly evaluating and monitoring different companies and suppliers and that there were a few companies that did not comply with the initiative and were being dealt with accordingly. He added that there was continuous coordination between ministries, governorates, and relevant authorities, as well as the Central Bank, which was arranging the dollar component to provide various commodities. He said that there were oversight campaigns that ensured the activation of this initiative, and periodic reports were being prepared in this regard. The Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation said that regarding the poultry sector in general, most participants were committed to the initiative, but some were not. He said that they were being dealt with firmly by the relevant control bodies. Regarding the efforts to secure the dollars to provide commodities, Mohamed Abou Moussa, the CBE Sub Governor, said that the bank had arranged the dollar component for some of the goods and commodities requested by the Minister of Supply, which cost $135m in total. He said that the bank was finalizing the papers for the remaining clients and that it had received a new statement today, which it was working on immediately. He affirmed the commitment of the Central Bank to support the initiative. During the meeting, Ahmed Elwakel explained the daily consumption and supply of the specified commodities in the initiative and highlighted some of the challenges that had been addressed since the launch of the initiative. Mohamed El-Sweedy confirmed that the industrialists and merchants had responded positively to the initiative since its announcement, and said that they were cooperating with various government entities to ensure the delivery of the goods included in the initiative to different cities and villages. He said that they were coordinating to increase the number of outlets nationwide. Alaa Ezz said that they were working to establish markets in governorates where there were no commercial chains and that they were aiming to achieve abundance in the markets, which would contribute to the sustainability of the initiative.
