Egyptian PM woos Kuwaiti investors
KUWAIT: Egypt’s visiting Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab said yesterday that his country is preparing a package of legislative reforms to lure more foreign direct investments (FDI) to breathe life into the ailing economy of the Arab most populous state. “A higher committee for legislative reforms is reviewing a large number of laws, at the forefront of which is the investment law, with a view to curtailing bureaucracy and cutting time of paper work processing,” Mahlab said in a speech during a visit the Kuwait’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
“The new investment law will be completed before the convention of the international economic conference which Egypt will organize on March 13,” he affirmed. He pointed out that the current situation in Egypt requires solidarity and cooperation among regional countries to overcome the huge security and economic challenges. Mahlab noted that Egypt will set a new mechanism to ensure quick settlement of investment-related disputes.
“The government is keen on cracking down on corruption at the state bodies and on improving the performance of civil servants through reforming the civil servants and labor laws,” he stressed. He added that Egypt is also working on a unified land law and a bankruptcy law to achieve the interest of the state and investors and avoid future disagreements. The Premier suggested that the Egypt’s economic conference aims to improve the living standards and economic conditions of the low-income people who make up 25 of the population.
Over 25 mega projects in the different sector would be put forward for investment during the conference, he said. KCCI President Ali Al-- Ghanim underscored that Kuwait is eager to support Egyptian economy and a large Kuwaiti investment delegation would partake in Egypt’s economic conference. He also encouraged Arab investors to pour more money into the Egyptian economy to help recover it.
Al-Ghanim also urged Egypt to take all required measures to create an investmentfriendly environment. He unveiled that Premier Mahlab will receive, starting from today, the complaints of Kuwaiti companies which have investments in Egypt to be consider and resolved. Mahlab started a three-day official visit to Kuwait on Sunday, in response to an official invitation by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.