Dr. Khaled Hanafy, the Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Chambers, affirmed that "Egypt has overcome the emerging crisis of the Coronavirus, COVID-19, thanks to the reforms that have been implemented since 2016," noting that "despite the unprecedented uncertainty at the local and global levels, Egypt's policies have achieved a balance between ensuring targeted spending to protect necessary health and social expenditures and maintaining financial sustainability and international reserves."
Hanafy’s words came during his speech at the opening of the 12th Arab-Austrian Economic Forum, which was organized by the Austro-Arab Chamber of Commerce and the Union of Arab Chambers, and held virtually in cooperation with the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Vienna, where Egypt was the guest country for the forum this year.
H.E. Margarete Schramböck, the Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs of the Republic of Austria participated in the forum, in addition to Dr. Hala Al-Saeed, Minister of Planning and Economic Development of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and Dr. Khaled El-Enany, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Hanafy pointed out that "the growth is expected to reach 2.8% in the fiscal year 2020/2021 and that it will strongly increase to 5.2% in the fiscal year 2021/2022," considering that "the structural reform agenda of the Egyptian authorities, aims to achieve more inclusive and sustainable growth led by the private sector".
He also noted that "in line with Vision 2030, Egypt has approved a digital transformation strategy with the aim of transforming Egypt into a digital society, by stabilizing infrastructure, building skills and thus creating job opportunities. In addition, green investment projects now represent 14 percent of the total public investment, and the new environmental sustainability guidelines will also be applied to 30 percent of those public projects, to finally reach 100 percent within three years.
Hanafy considered that "what has been achieved in a short period actually provides a wonderful and attractive investment environment for local, Arab and international investments, especially to build fruitful partnerships with Arab and international partners, especially with Austria and other European partners," stressing that "the road is still long, which requires continuous efforts by strengthening governance, the social protection, improving the business environment, deepening financial markets, and increasing integration into global trade.
To that, Dr. Khaled Hanafy moderated the second working session in the forum under the title: “Focus on Transport”, where he considered that “the transport sector occupies a fundamental importance in the national economy due to Egypt’s distinguished geographical location in the middle of international transport routes, and its proximity to major markets in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
