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UAE will not support Egypt forever

February 11, 2014 at 10:59 am

The UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour Bin-Zayed has stated that Arab support for Egypt will not continue forever, therefore Egypt must think of innovative and unconventional solutions to help address the country’s growing financial problems.


In a meeting with Bin-Zayed, Egypt’s interim Prime Minister Hazem Al-Beblawi confirmed that his government is indeed working on this. He noted that his government already owns 50 per cent of the strategic Sumed pipeline, a regional Arab project.

Other surpluses, Al-Beblawi said, are the result of UAE aid.

Al-Beblawi proposed for the UAE to invest more in Egypt’s private sector, hoping that this would have positive effects on overall investment in Egypt even though it would also pose risks for safeguarding Egypt’s sovereign wealth and resources.

During the meeting, UAE officials demanded that Egypt’s leaders first make legislative reforms to protect Arab and foreign investment in the country. In response, Al-Beblawi assured the officials that these investments are already protected in Egypt through economic courts that specialise in solving investment disputes.

The Egyptian prime minister, who was appointed by the military general who carried out the coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected president, also defended his economic policies.

Al-Beblawi explained that his government has a long-term economic strategy, even though the current government is transitional and must adopt urgent plans. He added that the government is currently preparing the foundations to launch the Egyptian economy.

Meanwhile, Al-Beblawi met the head of the Arab Monetary Fund, Jassim Al-Mannai, and asked him to invest more in Egypt as well. Al-Mannai expressed his willingness to visit Egypt and support the country, however he did not confirm a time for his visit.