Curbing unemployment rate: Government's main target
Egypt, Economics, 5/2/2001

Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid recently affirmed the government's well-designed programs to provide the highest number of job opportunities estimated to reach one million offers at the governorates' level as of July first.

Answering a recent People's Assembly interpellation on unemployment, Ebeid pointed out that these programs would ensure a gradual solution to such a crucial problem that has been worsened by the unprecedented increase in the population growth rate (2.1 per cent annually).

Ebeid refuted the idea that Egypt's privatization program might be the main reason behind the ascending rate of jobless people and the growing increase in faltering companies.

On the contrary, Ebeid said that there are only two faltering companies out of 147 public business sector ones whose production have substantially increased and their volume of investments went up by LE 25 billion.

Ebeid further confirmed that the number of unemployed people in Egypt is 3 million and not 12 million as was erroneously mentioned during the interpellation.

"Egypt's actual labor force is about 18 million of the aggregate population of 65 million, "Ebeid said, adding that the number of government employees reached 5.7 million.

This besides some 1.3 million persons working in the public business sector companies and economic organizations along with some 8 million farmers belonging to the agricultural sector, Ebeid noted.

Reiterating the government's full commitment to ensure further job opportunities in the forthcoming phase, Ebeid noted that the state administrative body and the economic organizations are designed to absorb about 150,000 new working opportunities.

This besides another 150,000 job opportunities through a number of rural development projects along with some 300,000 working opportunities to be provided by a number of specialized vocational centers affiliated to the non-governmental sectors.

Egypt's export sector will provide about 150,000 job opportunities whereas handicrafts and small-scale enterprises are estimated to ensure 100,000 working opportunities, Ebeid added.

Easy-term loans to launch new projects for youths will also create about 100,000 job opportunities Ebeid elaborated.

On the same score, Medhat Hassanein declared that the new draft budget 2001-2002 has earmarked the necessary appropriations to ensure 700,000 working opportunities.

Within this context, the value of salaries under the new budget hit LE 31,869 million as compared to LE 28,866 million in the previous budget, marking an increase of 10.4 per cent.

Previous Stories:
  Why Egypt sees the need for an Arab Common market   (4/18/2001)
  Great opportunities for cooperation between Egypt, US, in economic domain   (3/26/2001)
  Egypt's plan of action centers on unemployment, development   (2/17/2001)

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