The Euromoney Egypt Conference held its 23rd session on 4-5 September 2018 in the Nile Ritz-Carlton in Cairo, bringing a new format and ideas under the theme of Resilience and Agility, Invest-Gate reports.

The conference featured an array of prominent speakers including Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait, Minister of Communication and Information Technology Amr Talaat, and Mansoor Ahmed, director of development solution & healthcare at Colliers International MENA.

In the “Egypt’s economy in 2018 – turning the corner?” session, Maait noted that “growth is 5.3% in 2017 compared to an average 2.3% in 2011-2014, while targeting this year “a rate of 5.7%-6%, with strong focus on encouraging investments and exports.” He added that Egypt’s net foreign reserves in July 2018 reached USD 44 bn, describing the figure as “the highest in Egypt’s history.”

Commenting on taxes, he said “14% of the GDP comes from taxes in 2018. We’re aiming for 20% in the coming years, to match the global standard.”

He also revealed a plan in process for establishing a fund that will be responsible for selling, privatizing, and utilizing unused or misused public assets, which are worth hundreds of thousands of Egyptian pounds, with expectations to be launched by 2019.

In the closing address, Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform Hala El-Saeed explained that new cities such as New Mansoura, New Assiut, New Alamein, and the New Administrative Capital were vital to pave the way to attract more private investors.

Regarding Egypt’s future plans, El Saeed said “We are eyeing to offer 764,000 housing units and develop 1,600 kilometers of road networks.” On the economic level, she noted that the country eyeing a growth rate of 7.8-8% by 2022.