Assistant Minister of Investment: Egypt is Capitalizing on Opportunities Amid Global Challenges

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During his participation in the second edition of the “Cairo Forum” on behalf of Engineer Hassan El-Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Engineer Mohamed El-Gousky, Assistant Minister for Planning, Development, and Digital Transformation, affirmed that Egypt is working to capitalize on opportunities that have emerged amid global economic challenges to strengthen its position on the international investment and trade map in the post-traditional economic era.

This statement came during a session titled “International Trade Policy in a Highly Turbulent World: Threats to Predictability and Stability Essential for Investment Decisions”, organized by the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies as part of the Cairo Forum.

El-Gousky emphasized Egypt’s belief in multilateral cooperation and collective solutions, despite the decline in international collaboration due to successive crises and geopolitical conflicts. He reaffirmed Cairo’s support for reforming global economic rules and policies to ensure fairness and competitiveness.

He explained that in light of global economic disruptions, Egypt has implemented comprehensive economic reforms accompanied by wide-ranging structural and procedural changes that have improved economic indicators. For example, the customs clearance time was reduced from 16 days at the beginning of the year to 5.8 days, saving approximately $1.5 billion in delay costs.

The Ministry has also completed the preparation of Egypt’s first comprehensive trade policy document, built on six main pillars:

Reducing the trade deficit by boosting exports and deepening local industry

Linking investment with trade within an integrated growth framework

Attracting high value-added investments to position Egypt as a regional hub for industry and exports

Protecting local industry through fair trade mechanisms aligned with WTO rules

Enhancing exports via targeted market strategies and a redesigned export support program for high-value goods

Facilitating trade and improving competitiveness through structural and legislative reforms that reduce the time and cost of customs and logistics procedures

El-Gousky added that Egypt will continue its reform journey to increase its competitiveness and strengthen its position in the new global economic system. The country will also deepen regional and international cooperation to support economic growth and sustainable development goals.

The session was moderated by Abdel Hamid Mamdouh, Senior Advisor at King & Spalding in Geneva and former WTO Director of Investment Services. Participants included:

Walid Gamal El-Din, Chairman of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone

Ambassador Alan Wolff, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics

Dr. Stefan Schepers, Executive Director of EU Policy Innovation Groups

Ms. Valérie Picard, Head of Trade at the International Chamber of Commerce

Dr. Simon Evenett, Professor of Geopolitics and Strategy at IMD Business School in Switzerland