Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pointed out that "the State has considered for years the privatization of companies in the business sector and public sector which is something very good. It was believed that there would be some form of balance between the public sector and the market in Egypt, that could control the free market mechanisms, and many elements could help in this market control. We actually are in possession of a part of those elements, and we are seeking to possess the rest of them."
El-Sisi continued to add the following: "What we are opening today is part of the state, not something separate from it, and this is an experience that I would like to convey to our colleagues who are in the Government, Business & Investment sectors". This speech was delivered during the opening ceremony of the industrial cement and marble industrial complex in Beni Suef, north of Upper Egypt.
El-Sisi pointed out that "if we could meet all the demands from the Egyptian market side, this will represent a great opportunity for us in many aspects: the foreign imports’ bill will be greatly reduced since we will produce many of what we need, we will save a large part of the free currency we consume through the imports process of our supplies, and we will provide jobs opportunities for the Egyptian youth, up to 2000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs."
El-Sisi highlighted that “The subsidy bill reached 334 billion pounds (18.66 billion dollars), and if the subsidy is canceled, we will be able to complete important investment projects in one year, however, we cannot cancel the subsidy in order to maintain the social balance in the country.”
