Private sector furnishes infrastructure for comprehensive development
Egypt, Economics, 8/14/2001

Ahmed Al Darsh, the Egyptian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation said that the main features of the 2002/2007 plan include the involvement of the private sector in furnishing infrastructure needs for achieving comprehensive development.

The plan gives priority to productive projects in the field of the ready-made clothes and foodstuffs in the context of the industry modernization drive.

Emphasis is laid on the principle of transparency and reactivating the role of control bodies such as the Central Bank and the Money Market Authority.

Darsh said that the 2002/2007 plan is the second medium term link of a long-term strategy 1997-2017, adding that the initial goals of the five-year plan 2002/2007 include the following:

-Shoring up the capability of productive sectors in the pilot sectors (industry-agriculture-tourism) and enhancing potentials of the Egyptian citizen to make him capable of confronting changes of the 21st century in terms of education, training, social relations, women involvement and technological progress.

-Promoting infrastructure besides redistributing population in the framework of an all-out strategy that fulfills the citizens' needs where they live.

-Expanding exportation capacity of the Egyptian products and enhancing capability of the private sector in the implementation of the plan.

-Confronting the unemployment problem, diversifying sources of financing and encouraging direct foreign investment.

-Eliminating obstacles facing development and balancing between the current status and the future hoped for.

-Providing wider opportunity to social entities to take part in planning and making development decisions.

-Making a comprehensive review of the existing legislations and policies regulating economic activity and adopting new legislations coping with upcoming developments.

-Giving priority to productive projects with promising opportunities in the framework of a plan for modernizing industry especially in the field of ready-made clothes and foodstuffs.

-Paying wider attention to medium industries which enhance competitiveness of the Egyptian product such as industry of dyeing materials, and enhancing overlapping relationship with small-size industries.

-Giving priority to projects supporting the direct production activities.

-Laying emphasis on agricultural projects achieving self-sufficiency of strategic commodities.

-In the field of tourism, Darsh said the plan lays emphasis on enhancing Egypt's share of world tourism.

-Improving per capita share of services and minimizing disparity between rural and urban areas.

-Exploring prospects for international, regional and cooperation as a mechanism for merging into world economy and considering alternatives available to the economy to interact with world changes.

-Developing the education system, supporting research centers and generalizing sophisticated technology.

-Reactivating the role of control bodies, such as the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and money stock market in order to guarantee commitment to rules regulating economy activity.

Concluding, Darsh said a higher planning committee will be set up under his chairmanship to examine ways of maximizing benefit from merging into world economy, submitting proposals for enhancing social and economic development strategy and developing economic instruments for achieving goals of the plan.

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