Mohieldin, Gafi, Egx Mull Over Action Priorities

The Minister of Investment, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, and board members of the General Authority for Investment (GAFI) and the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) discussed some matters of common interest and GAFI and EGX action priorities.

The meeting discussed legislative amendments needed to streamline business startup procedures and practices; for example, facilitating procedures of corporate strategies for entering and exiting the market with effective supervision.

The meeting covered how to take advantage of the high external demand for some vital industries in Egypt, as well as securing the availability of information and commitment to the effective and professional disclosure of data and statistical and economic information.

Microfinance, financial leasing and partnership with the private sector were also main topics of discussion.

It was agreed that EGX and GAFI would cooperatively be contributing to investment promotion efforts, defining the investment opportunities and participating in promotional activities such as internal and external visits and conferences, in order to entice extra investments from varied sources and protect dealers' rights. The meeting highlighted the importance of organizing awareness-raising programs by GAFI and EGX in order to protect the markets and improve dealers' knowledge.

Recent economic legislation emphasized the importance of prioritizing the financial culture and disseminating awareness among the public on the role of finance institutions, particularly after diagnosing the lack of financial awareness as one of the main reasons behind the global financial crisis.

The meeting also mulled over the importance of developing and broadening GAFI's database by inserting additional information that may improve information quality and accuracy.

The meeting also stressed the need to focus in the coming period on such sectors as as agriculture, food processing, power generation and transfer, mining and quarrying, and trade.

There was a consensus on paying much attention to the new trends of the sources of investment flows, the importance of intensifying presence in these areas and active participation in promoting cooperation with them.

As for the future plan for developing the capital market, Dr. Mohieldin highlighted the significance of implementing the plans made to develop and promote the bond market so that it could be an active market in mobilizing savings and providing the finance necessary for companies operating in the Egyptian market.

It is important to develop new financial instruments in the Egyptian market, stimulate the secondary market for government and corporate bonds, and raise the rates of transparency and awareness of the transactions on bonds, Dr. Mohieldin added.

The meeting also noted the need to expedite the establishment of a futures exchange, which would help hedge the risks of price fluctuations in light of what the world has witnessed in recent years due to fluctuations in the prices of products and goods. There should be more efforts to develop the Nile Exchange for SMEs (Nilex) to provide the funding necessary for SMEs and help them achieve growth and increase investments and employment.

Dr. Mohieldin said it is important to expedite the establishment of specialized associations for the different companies working in the non-banking financial services like the Insurance Federation of Egypt, as these associations are an effective forum for exchanging ideas and developing markets.