President El-Sisi Participates in International Business Leaders’ Session on the sidelines of WEF

alhadath – cairo

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi participated in a dialogue session with a prestigious group of international business leaders, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland.

Spokesman for the Presidency Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy stated that the session was moderated by WEF Interim Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees Mr. André Hoffmann, and WEF Managing Director Mr. Maroun Kairouz. This session was attended by approximately seventy leading CEOs and heads of global and regional financial and investment institutions. These participants represented various sectors, including energy, digital transformation, transport, infrastructure, and financial services.

Mr. Hoffmann opened the session by welcoming President El-Sisi, praising his participation in the Forum. He emphasized that convening this session reflects the high regard for Egypt’s standing. It also aims at providing an opportunity to present the President’s vision regarding developments in the Egyptian economy and the role of the private sector in supporting the state’s efforts to achieve comprehensive development.

At the outset of his speech, President El-Sisi expressed his appreciation for meeting a distinguished group of leaders from major international companies. The President noted that this reflected the state’s interest in the role of the private sector in the development process.

President El-Sisi highlighted Egypt’s vision for achieving comprehensive development, which is based on strengthening the role of the private sector, expanding investment opportunities, and creating an attractive environment for entrepreneurship. This is in addition to continuing infrastructure development and implementing economic and structural reforms to ensure macroeconomic stability.

President El-Sisi reviewed the measures taken by the state to bolster private sector participation, including setting a ceiling on public investments, implementing the State Ownership Policy Document, and the IPO program (Initial Public Offering program), which has contributed to increasing the private sector’s share in total investments within Egypt. The President also underscored efforts to improve the investment climate by offering broad incentives in priority sectors such as electric vehicle manufacturing, information technology, pharmaceuticals, and new and renewable energy, specifically green hydrogen. This is alongside issuing the Green Hydrogen Incentives Law, launching the Golden License program, developing the legislative and tax environment, and simplifying procedures through a unified digital platform.

President El-Sisi also outlined the achievements in infrastructure development, including upgrading road, transport, and railway networks, enhancing port efficiency, and developing the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE). This is in addition to the Suez Canal development projects to reinforce its role as a vital lifeline for global trade, particularly with the gradual return of shipping companies following the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit for Peace.

The President reiterated the state’s commitment to digital transformation and localization of industry through developing digital infrastructure and launching Egypt’s Industrial Strategy 2030. This aims to increase the industrial sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). President El-Sisi further referred to the positive outcomes of the economic program being implemented by Egypt in cooperation with international financial institutions, foremost among them the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This program contributed to improving macroeconomic indicators, raising Egypt’s credit rating, increasing growth rates, improving the balance of payments, boosting foreign currency reserves, and reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio.

Concluding his speech, President El-Sisi reaffirmed his invitation to investors to seize the opportunities available in the Egyptian market and take full leverage of the incentives and logistical capabilities Egypt possesses. The President stressed the government’s readiness to provide all necessary facilitation to support investors’ activities and overcome any obstacles they may face.

The session featured an interactive dialogue between the President and the attendees. This dialogue touched on the remarkable growth of Egypt’s tourism sector and the significant increase in the number of incoming tourists over the past year.

The discussions further highlighted the state’s efforts to develop the SCZONE and enhance its services, as well as to attract more foreign investment to the Canal’s economic zone. The dialogue focused on the private sector’s role in implementing national projects as a key partner in the journey toward comprehensive development.

The President also reviewed the state’s efforts to develop the healthcare sector, including modernizing infrastructure and expanding services to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), ensure equitable access to care, and leverage the latest medical technologies. In this context, the President emphasized the importance of the private sector’s active role in supporting the state’s efforts through investment in medical technology development and strengthening the capabilities of the healthcare sector.

President El-Sisi added that the Egyptian economy has been able to absorb and overcome major challenges over recent years, most notably the COVID-19 pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.

The President mentioned that the stability witnessed in Egypt stems primarily from the awareness and resilience of the Egyptian people.