Egypt seeks to invest in Gaza following Israeli pullout

Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghali said that Egypt seeks to invest in Gaza Strip following Israeli withdrawal.

In his speech before the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Ghali said that investment cost in Gaza is lower than that in India, but it is difficult to persuade investors to invest in Gaza due to the high cost, the small size of Palestinian market and absence of incentives.

In an interview with Reuters in Washington, Ghali said, "we will provide about 700,000 job opportunities annually if we achieved a growth rate ranging between 5 and 6%.

On the other hand, Minister of Investment, Mahmoud Mohieddin said on the margins of the World Bank meetings, he discussed with the World Bank officials means to develop banking sector in Egypt.

Mohieddin said that the World Bank continues to support reform measures taken by Egypt to develop economy.