By: M. Dinata *)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi opened the economic conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Friday, 13 March 2015. The aims of this conference is to revive the egyptian economy and invite international partners to invest in Egypt. This conference attended by Egypt’s Arab neighbors and international partners, including the United States.
Also in this conference, The Egyptian Government announced their plan to build a new capital at the east of Cairo. Housing Minister, Mostafa Madbouly said the project would cost $45bn (£30bn) and take five to seven years to complete. The project is needed in order to avoid the overpopulation of Cairo which will be doubled in the next 40 years, from 18 million this day.
In the conference that attracted pledges worth for $12bn (£8bn) in aid and investment from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The developer of the new capital said that the project will be built in over 700 sq km (270 sq miles) and about five million residents. The new capital will be the central government, it will provide almost 2,000 schools and colleges and more than 600 health care facilities. This project will also create more than a million jobs.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who attend on that conference said about U.S support for Egypt’s economy’s rebuild in any way. “The road ahead is absolutely clear, and so is the United States’ determination to support Egypt’s progress in any way that we can … and that includes in the effort to stand up and fight against extremists and terrorists,” he said. “Here at this conference, we stand in direct contradiction to the nihilism that they present. They want to destroy and go back in time. We want to build and go to the future, and that’s what this conference is about.”
After years of political upheavel and tension in Egypt, which caused the downfall of foreign investment from $13bn in 2007-2008 to just $2.2bn, and annual economic growth fell from 7% to about 2%, Egypt’s Government wants to create 6 percent economic growth for the next five years and to cut unemployment to 10 percent. Meanwhile, The International Monetary Fund estimates 3.8% growth for the financial year to July 2015, and 4.3% in 2015-2016.
*) The Author is Brunei Darussalam’s Contributor.