Egypt’s 2030 Plan and China Investments
By: Yidan Fan/Arab America Contributing Writer
Egypt has made its 2030 plan for industrial development and the governance of the country. China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative coincides with Egypt’s “2030 Vision” and has aroused the interest of many Egyptians. This article will introduce you to Egypt’s 2030 plan and China investments.
Made in Egypt 2030
2020 is Egypt’s industrial development year, and it is planned to make Egypt an industrial power among the world’s major powers in the ten years from next year to 2030. President Sisi will lead his government to make efforts in four aspects: economic reform, social reform, administrative reform, and political reform to achieve comprehensive reform and development.
Egypt has formulated the “Industrial Development and Foreign Trade Strategy 2020”, which focuses on five themes: industrial development, export development, small and micro-enterprise development, technology and vocational training development, government governance and system development. President Sisi emphasized that in addition to being committed to implementing a strong economic reform plan, the government should also strive to create a business environment needed for development by increasing investment in infrastructure projects, so as to improve the competitiveness of the industrial sector and encourage high-quality foreign capital to gain investment in Egypt. The most important of these are the national highway network project, the Suez Canal Economic and Trade Corridor project, the construction of new industrial zones and new cities, and other national projects with economic and social impact. The government plans to establish 12 new investment zones and 13 new industrial parks to provide hundreds of thousands of jobs and reduce the unemployment rate to below 7% by 2022.
In addition, the Egyptian government also plans to implement the “National Plan for Deepening Local Manufacturing”, which aims to improve the competitiveness of the Egyptian industry and deepen local manufacturing through the diversified development of local suppliers and the replacement of imported products with local suppliers’ products. Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Nassar emphasized the need to increase local manufacturing by 40% and gradually export products to markets in East Africa, North Africa and neighboring Arab countries. To this end, Egypt has set up a consumer protection bureau and established a separate law enforcement agency to regulate the quality of local products and services in Egypt and bring convenience to Egyptian citizens, foreign investors and tourists.
One Belt, One Road
Egypt is located on the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It was a must-pass-through the east-west trade in ancient times. Today, it is a hub country along the “Belt and Road” and an important part of the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”.
China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative coincides with Egypt’s “2030 Vision” and has aroused the interest of many Egyptians. The “Belt and Road” initiative was put forward by China in order to realize international cooperation with the goal of common development. This initiative actually reflects China’s development philosophy. Since the “Belt and Road” initiative was put forward, its connotation has been continuously strengthened and its extension has been continuously expanded. At present, China-Egypt economic and trade cooperation involves many fields such as electricity, railways, ships, information and communications, and oilfield development. Egypt is located at the western end of the “Belt and Road” and is a natural partner in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”. It is also one of the first countries to support and participate in the construction of the “Belt and Road”. Despite the impact of the epidemic, the “Belt and Road” cooperation is still advancing against the trend. The “Belt and Road” initiative is in the development interests of China and Egypt. The cooperation between the two countries involves trade and investment, infrastructure construction, education, technology, and culture.
Egyptian officials believe that the Egyptian government’s “Made in Egypt 2030” development goal is very similar to “Made in China 2025”. Egypt should “learn from China” and use the “Belt and Road” initiative to enable advanced Chinese companies to integrate technology and the experience was brought to Egypt and helped Egypt realize its industrial revival.
Egypt’s 2030 Vision
Egypt’s “Vision 2030” includes the governance of the country, such as building a more transparent and efficient government management system, improving citizens’ life satisfaction, poverty reduction, and sustainable development. China has many lessons to learn from in these areas.
Many political and commercial people in Egypt look forward to learning from China’s experience in poverty reduction. They said that all poverty-stricken counties in China have been lifted out of poverty, creating a miracle in the history of human poverty reduction. Egypt looks forward to learning from China’s advanced experience and strengthening the in-depth cooperation between the two countries in the field of poverty reduction. They highly appreciated China’s great achievements in poverty alleviation and poverty reduction and evaluated China as “the world leader in poverty reduction.”
As a representative of a large developing country and an emerging economy with a population of 100 million, Egypt has stabilized its political environment in recent years, its economic and social reforms have been developing in-depth, and its overall development potential has been strong.
The Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang said recently that under the epidemic, China-Egypt cooperation has bucked the trend and new achievements have been made in cooperation in various fields. China is willing to work with Egypt to promote the in-depth docking of the “Belt and Road” initiative with Egypt’s “Vision 2030”, and build China-Egypt relations into a prototype of a China-Arab and China-Africa community with a shared future.
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