EBRD to adopt new strategy in Egypt in 2017

Investment Minister Dalia Khorshed met Wednesday with a delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to discuss a new EBRD strategy that will go into effect in January 2017.

Philip ter Woort, Director of EBRD Egypt, said his bank intends to pump more investments into the Egyptian market in the coming years, a statement by the Investment Ministry said on Wednesday.

Touching upon EBRD investment in Egypt, ter Woort said it amounted to 1.6 billion euros and covered 34 projects in the fields of energy, finance, trade and industry and infrastructure.

EBRD is looking forward to working within the "Egypt 2030" development framework, he said. If everything works according to plan, Egypt should become the second in a list of EBRD beneficiaries this year, ter Woort said.

Egypt is still in the third position, he noted. This, ter Woort added, reflects EBRD confidence in the investment climate in Egypt.

Khorshed stressed the importance of boosting funding tools to better benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

"We're acting to create more jobs for Egyptian youth and empower them to easily establish and bankroll their projects," the minister said.