Wrapping up his Singapore visit, the Minister of Investment, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, held a series of meetings with officials and representatives of Singaporean corporations to showcase Egypt's major investment opportunities and contributable projects.
Means to broaden Egypt-Singapore economic and investment cooperation were considered when he met with the Singaporean Minister of Trade and Industry, Lim Hng Kiang; representatives of the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS); representatives of NOL shipment and transportation corporation; the Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Mr. Kishore Mahbubani, and representatives of Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund (Temasek).
Dr. Mohieldin and Mr. Kiang discussed the steps needed to complete the comprehensive framework for economic cooperation between both countries, given their two agreements on joint investment protection and double taxation prevention.
They agreed to move faster to set in place that framework before midyear.
Dr. Mohieldin expressed his interest in drawing upon the Singaporean experience in setting up joint economic zones like the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (CS-SIP) and its economic zones with Vietnam.
Dr. Mohieldin presented investment opportunities on tap in integrated development sectors in Upper Egypt, ports development in the Red Sea provinces, the North-West Suez Gulf Economic Zone (SEZONE) and container handling projects, when he met with NOL officials.
NOL voiced interest in the Egyptian market. They seek to increase their already-existing investments and launch new projects. They would like to build a logistic services company and contribute to ports development in Egypt.
NOL officials will be meeting with the Ministry of Transportation in the coming period for further coordination.
NOL is a worldwide leading shipment and storage corporation with 10,000 employees. Its business in Egypt is run by five head offices in Cairo, Port Said, West Damietta, East Damietta, and Sukhna Port.
Dr. Mohieldin and DBS officials reviewed the development of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) indicators over the few past years. The rate of trading went up, as along with average market capital. The minister showcased some infrastructure, communication and financial services projects.
"The measures Egypt took helped the financial sector withstand the effects of the global financial crisis," Dr. Mohieldin said.
He reviewed the Financial Sector Reform Program, which included activation of the mortgage finance and restructuring of the insurance sector.
A package of reforms was also presented, which included creating a unified financial supervisory authority, developing the organizational framework of the unified Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) in order to guarantee the sector stability and disclosure of information.
With regard to the banking sector, Dr. Mohieldin highlighted the presence of international banks in Egyptian market, which enjoy high competitiveness. He also referred to the liquidity of this sector, as the ratio of loans to deposits hit about 52 percent.
Dr. Mohieldin signed a MoU with Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy under which government employees could get a one-year master in public administration (MPA) or a two-year master in public policy (MPP).
Signed by Dean Mahbubani, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy will offer training courses for Egyptian cadres in executive management, according to the needs of the Ministry of Investment and its affiliates.
Under the MoU, the Ministry of Investment has the right to invite selected members from the School to give lectures on topics specified by the ministry.
Dr. Mohieldin concluded his visit by meeting with regional CEO of investment in North Africa and the Middle East, and Temasek leading figures. The meeting reviewed the available investment opportunities in Egyptian market.
Temasek representatives expressed an interest in investing in SMEs in Egyptian market thanks to their high returns.
"Great efforts have been made to support SMEs like establishing the Nile Stock Exchange (Nilex), which would help companies get the requisite funding. Ten companies were listed in Nilex and shares of another two companies will be traded by the end of the current fiscal year," Dr. Mohieldin added.
The meeting also discussed how Temasek could contribute to the SMEs Fund established by the General Authority for Investment (GAFI) at an expected capital of EGP one billion. It also discussed how Temasek – the largest sovereign wealth fund in Singapore with investments of $120 billion – could finance investment projects by issuing bonds in the Egyptian market.
Dr. Mohieldin assigned the Upper Egypt-Red Sea Company, which is responsible for the development of the area around the Upper Egypt-Red Sea Road, to send promotional missions to Singapore, Korea, the UAE and Malaysia to promote their projects, upon an invitation from these parties.