Sisi: Private sector can invest as much as the state in Egypt economy

Egypt is ready to let the private sector participate in all projects to build the country, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said on Wednesday, in what many believe is a response to billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris’ criticism that the state should be a “regulator, not an owner” in such endeavours.

“We wish, encourage, and announce all projects. If the private sector desires to be a partner, it is welcome, even in the project we opened today, it is really welcomed. You will pay the same amount that we paid, so you will be a partner, we are ready to let the private sector participate in all the projects that we have worked on, at the percentage it desires,” Al-Sisi said during the inauguration of service projects in Upper Egypt.

“The words that are said are appreciated and respected, in reference to the state’s interference in investment as a competitor, we are aware of the good intentions, no one has bad intentions towards his country Egypt, but we sometimes emphasise and clarify things,” he added.

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Last month, Sawiris said competition between the public and private sectors was “unfair from the beginning.”

“Government-owned or military-affiliated companies do not pay taxes or customs. Of course, we can’t do that, so the competition is unfair from the start,” Sawiris told AFP.

Since he assumed power in 2014, Al-Sisi has allocated large areas of land, particularly along the coast, for real estate, tourism and agricultural development. This land is then used for real estate projects for the army.

It is estimated that the Egyptian army owns some 40 per cent of Egypt’s total GDP and owns construction firms, cement plants, hotels and invests in key sectors including tourism.