Ministers of Industry and Planning discuss improving industrial output and increasing export rates
Minister of Trade and Industry, Amr Nassar, held an extensive meeting with Dr. Hala Al-Saeed, Minister of Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform, to discuss means of boosting cooperation and coordination between the two ministries. This is to improve the indicators of industrial development and foreign trade of Egypt in the next phase and to improve the mechanisms to implement this in the short and medium term within the framework of “Egypt Vision 2030”
Amr Nassar said on Friday that the meeting discussed the importance of the efforts of all ministries to create an investment climate in various sectors, especially in the industrial sector in order to attract more investments, whether local or foreign direct investment in the Egyptian market. He pointed out that the plan of the Ministry of Trade and Industry during the next phase is based mainly on the expansion of the establishment of more specialized industrial clusters and the activation of untapped efforts in the factories, which contributes to achieving an increase in the rates of industrial output and industrial exports at a sustainable growth rate and provide more jobs as well as support the state's efforts in structural reform at the level of all sector.
Nassar stressed the keenness of the ministry to adopt an ambitious plan to increase Egyptian exports through activating support programs, refunding export burdens, guaranteeing export risks as well as providing financing mechanisms for export operation. He also pointed out that there is coordination and cooperation between the various ministries and business organizations concerned with the industrial and trade sectors to implement this plan.
For her part, Dr. Hala Al-Saeed, Minister of Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform, stressed the keenness of the Ministry of Planning to cooperate with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Such cooperation is aimed at solving all the challenges facing the growth of industrial output and industrial exports and increasing them at a sustainable rate especially, that the industrial sector is one of the most important engines of the national economy and other economic sectors. The sectors contribute to the gross domestic product with an annual growth rate of more than 17%, as well as the ability of this sector to provide a sustainable source of foreign exchange. In addition to the potential of the sector to achieve added value to the national economy as well as its interrelationship with other productive sectors
The minister pointed out that the Ministry of Planning strives to coordinate with all ministries to improve performance indicators and achieve targeted growth plans. This will positively affect the rates of growth of the national economy, noting that the Egyptian economy achieved a growth rate of 5.4% during the fiscal year 2017/2018.
Al-Saeed clarified that the industrial sector plays an important role in the national economy, pointing out that the government relies on this sector to achieve a remarkable developmental boom in the coming period because it is a high-growth sector. The sector is expected to contribute with 20% of the growth in fiscal year 2018 /2019, with the contribution gradually increasing in the light of the improvement in the growth rate of the industrial sector.