Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala al-Saeed speaks during the second Egypt Economic Summit in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 2, 2020. Hala al-Saeed said on Wednesday that the economic reform program that Egypt adopted in 2016 enabled the government to face up to the negative repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
CAIRO, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Hala al-Saeed, said on Wednesday that the economic reform program that Egypt adopted in 2016 enabled the government to face up to the negative repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minster made the remarks in a speech during the second Egypt Economic Summit held under the auspices of Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
During the one-day event, speakers, experts and officials representing the government and the private sector discussed economic and investment opportunities in various sectors in the post-pandemic era.
The summit also focused on banking, real estate as well as Egypt's infrastructure preparedness for digital transformation.
Egypt's economic reform program effectively contributed to raising growth rates during the ongoing pandemic, the minister said, adding that Egypt has balanced between maintaining health measures and keeping the economic activities ongoing.
In November, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which backs Egypt's reform program with a 12-billion U.S. dollars loan, said in a statement that "the Egyptian economy has performed better than expected despite the pandemic."
"Egypt's reform program has yielded positive results... the program and anti-COVID-19 economic measures helped Egyptian and foreign businesses survive," Ahmed Gaafar, chief marketing officer of Samsung Electronics Egypt, told Xinhua. Enditem
