Trump claims SoftBank of Japan to invest $50 billion
Egypt unveils ‘three-year’ reform plan
DONALD Trump embarked on Tuesday on the second leg of an unorthodox “victory tour”, promising tough policies to put the US economy first and boasting of securing a $50 billion Japanese investment to create 50,000 jobs.
The US president-elect provided no details on the jobs or investment, which he spent all day trumpeting after talks with Japanese telecoms billionaire Masayoshi Son at Trump Tower in New York.
“Great guy of Japan. He’s pledged that he’s going to put $50 billion into the United States because of our victory,” Trump told a crowd of several thousand in Fayetteville, North Carolina, of Son.
“Fifty thousand jobs he’s going to be investing in.”
The Japanese magnate told reporters at Trump Tower that his telecoms company would be investing in startup companies in America.
“I just came to celebrate his new job,” said Son.
The tycoon brandished a piece of paper that indicated SoftBank and Foxconn, the Taiwanese technology giant, “commit to invest $50bn + $7bn in US, generate 50k + 50k new jobs in US in next four years”.
Trump got into hot water last week by taking a protocol-busting telephone call from the president of Taiwan and is under increasing fire in the media for conflicts of interest between his vast business empire and taking top office.
He accuses China of stealing American jobs by sucking away manufacturing plants and pledges to lower corporate tax rates to 15 percent and threatens “consequences” on American firms that fire workers and leave the country.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Son said the money will be coming from a $100 billion investment fund that he is setting up with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and other potential partners.
‘Mad Dog’
The incoming Republican president, whose shock victory stunned the world, also used his Fayetteville rally to boast of his intervention last week to save hundreds of manufacturing jobs from leaving Indiana for Mexico.
“We’re going to defend American jobs,” he said, repeating a key campaign promise. “We have to look at it almost as a war.
“We are going to be good for the world not just good for our country. The script to what we’re doing is not yet written,” he said.
Trump bolstered his populist credentials earlier on Tuesday by threatening to cancel a ballooning contract for two new Air Force One jets: one of the most glittering assets of the US presidency that now need updating.
He claimed that the contract had escalated to more than $4 billion, and his team said he was committed to saving taxpayers’ money.
Converting twin 747-8 jumbo jets into state-of-the-art command centers by 2024 was estimated to cost $3 billion when Boeing won the contract in January 2015.
Boeing said simply that it looked forward to delivering “the best planes for the president at the best value for the American taxpayer”.
In Fayetteville, Trump used his sec- ond “thank you” rally, following one last week in Ohio, to promise a bolstered US military and an America “strong like we’ve never been before”.
The United States, he said, would strengthen its friendships and “seek out new friendships”.
“Rather than a rigid dogma, we’re guided by the lessons of history and desire to promote stability,” he said.
He introduced retired general James Mattis as his defence secretary, marking the first time that he has appeared side by side with a cabinet pick in public.
Trump who called the commander nicknamed “Mad Dog” one of the most effective generals in decades, announced the pick in Cincinnati on Thursday, driving the crowd wild in another break with tradition. EGYPT has an ambitious three-year reform plan that, with foreign help, can revive its struggling economy, the minister of international cooperation said.
In an interview, Sahar Nasr said the “three-year strategy” will lead to a return of investments, boost industrial production and create jobs.
It comes as Egypt faces not only falling growth and a currency crisis following years of political turmoil, but also increasing public discontent over rising prices.
“Once these reforms are all in place, there will be a positive impact on the economy, and on the social front,” Nasr said. “Especially in the medium and long term.”
The economy of Egypt, the most populous Arab country, has faced major challenges since the 2011 ouster of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who took power after the 2013 overthrow of his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, has vowed to get the economy back on track.
His government has sought help abroad and on November 11 the International Monetary Fund approved a $12 billion loan to Egypt over the next three years.
‘Delayed for decades’
The country will also benefit from the release of the first tranche of a $1 billion World Bank loan and the deposit by the African Development Bank of the first tranche of a $1.5 billion loan. Cairo is also finalising an $800 million loan with the European Union.
Nasr said the aid programs are helpful but will provide only temporary support. Donors are “helping Egypt to stand on solid ground, helping Egypt not to rely on foreign aid, and not to rely on any borrowing from international financial institutions” in the long run, she said.
The international aid is “to improve Egyptians’ living standards”, she said, in a country where 27.8 percent live below the poverty line and public debt is nearing 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product.
The goal is a return to sustainable economic growth of 6 percent by 2018, compared with 3.5 percent in the first half of this year.
The government’s reform plan is based on “three pillars”, Nasr said.
The first is to boost private sector investment.
“The key of the reform program is improving the business environment, encouraging industrialisation, and also promoting exports,” she said.
The second is restructuring the budget, including by cutting subsidies, which represent 7.9 percent of government spending.
Egypt floated its currency on November 3, which was followed by a devaluation from the fixed rate of 8.8 pounds per dollar to a traded rate of 18 pounds per dollar last week.
Nasr said the planned reforms had been “delayed for decades”.