Mahathir Mohamed, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, will hold his first visit to Cairo after the January 25 Revolution in order to participate in a conference organized by the union for Egyptian industries. Egypt's Prime Minister, Dr. Essam Sharaf, and representatives of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) will participate in the conference. Mohammed will hold closed sessions with Egyptian officials to discuss the economic situation in the country after the revolution. Sources confirmed that the former Malaysian official will discuss how Malaysia managed to become an industrial country after it was depending on producing and exporting raw materials. Mohamed will also meet with a number of Egyptian businessmen to discuss developing the Egyptian economy. He will also discuss with them how to keep Egyptian workers and use them to combat unemployment, which increased during the recent incidents that Egypt witnessed. During his visit, Mohamed will try to formulate a vision regarding Egypt's future that will aim to increase employment and achieve economic growth. He will propose mechanisms to encourage exportations and financially support the small industries, creating in turn job opportunities and developing the Egyptian industry. The conference will commence on Tuesday and will be attended by experts, representatives of the Egyptian and foreign business organizations, leaders of the Egyptian industry leaders, the youth of the revolution, and representatives of different political powers in Egypt. The conference will include four sessions that will discuss Egypt's future after the January 25 Revolution, economic change as well as investment and employment in Egypt by 2030. The sessions will also include a debate between the presidential candidates on their vision regarding Egypt's future. Galal al-Zorba, the chairman of the union for industries, expressed his happiness and optimism about holding such conference which he said is important. Al-Zorba said the conference will change Egypt's economic plan for the next stage. He also said the conference aims to create a dialogue with all the different entities in order to draft a plan to achieve development. Economics expert Dr. Mustafa al-Nasharti said that Malaysia managed to overcome its financial crisis by taking measures in the local market that made it one of the developing countries that achieved high growth rates during the last couple of years. He added that Malaysia implemented the free economic system without ignoring the social role of the state. Dr. Abdel-Moniem Omran, the chairman of Alpha Capital Company, said that Egypt will be able to implement the Malaysian model to develop its economy, especially that it can attract more investments.
