President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said on Monday that Egypt has paved the way for a better economic future by building advanced and adequate infrastructure over the past few years by providing the required investment funds, estimated to be in the trillions of dollars.
Sisi was speaking at the annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Sharm el-Sheikh. "Multilateral financial institutions may need to provide more low-cost financing to help emerging and weak economies in the difficult economic conditions the world faces," he said.
He also said that the AIIB's investment portfolio in Egypt has reached $1.3 billion, and that Egypt wants to strengthen cooperation.
On the role of the private sector, the president said: "We have a huge gap in infrastructure in Egypt and we have two paths to go. It starts with an ambitious and strong state investment plan to finance infrastructure that will give the Egyptian economy a better future, or to encourage the private sector to join us in these projects."
"The private sector is working with the government through its companies, which are responsible for the work on these projects, so a significant portion of the money spent is shared by private sector companies," he added.
"The state is keen for the private sector to lead Egypt's development and claims that this is translated through measures such as the State ownership policy document, which aims to remove all exceptions provided to the public sector from taxation and provide justice and equal opportunities for all," he stressed.
Sisi said more than 22 decisions have been issued to stimulate and encourage investment from the private sector, and nearly 150 projects have been launched, with tax breaks for five to 10 years for companies willing to partner with the state in these projects.
After the speech, Sisi met with AIIB President Jin Liqun. Egypt appreciates the good relations established between the World Bank and Egypt as a partner in the development process, and hopes that the two sides will strengthen cooperation in such fields as transportation and clean energy and support Egypt's transition to a green economy.
The bank said it hopes to continue to strengthen its portfolio in Egypt, particularly by financing infrastructure projects in various key sectors.