With Egypt’s economic conference barely a week away, anticipation about the opportunities it will unveil is high in the country as well as among foreign business communities.
Those familiar with Egypt know that the scope for investing there is immense because expansions and improvements are needed in every economic sector.
That is why the outcome of the conference on March 13 to 15, will be pivotal for the economy’s growth and stability over the next five to six years – a critical recovery phase long overdue after the dramatic deterioration experienced since 2011.
The results of this forum will have a wide-ranging resonance and, therefore, implications for regional and international peace and security as well.
Anchoring economic stability in the country of 84 million people, with almost 30 per cent youth unemployment and high international market exposure, is imperative for Egypt to address its economic, social and security challenges.
This in turn would enable it to maintain its much-needed constructive role in the acutely volatile geopolitical environment casting a shadow over the Middle East.
The dust from the 2011 revolutionary storm in Egypt and its destabilising aftermath has not yet settled completely. These turbulent events coincided with the hard-hitting repercussions of the global financial crash and economic recession that caused a worldwide slump in foreign direct investment (FDI).
With the recent softening of hydrocarbon prices, the onus is shifting, perhaps sooner than expected, more towards an internally-driven economic recovery than one leveraged by external transfers. That may well be a blessing in disguise.
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