Mr. Hossam Heiba: The State's achievement of competitive neutrality is a major determinant in attracting investments.
Mr. Hossam Heiba: A greater role for the private sector in promoting investment and updating Egypt's investment map.
Mr. Hossam Heiba, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, participated in the opening session of the Conference on Enhancing Competitive Neutrality, in the presence of Dr. Mahmoud Momtaz, the Chairman of the Egyptian Competition Authority and Prevention of Monopolistic Practices, Dr. Hani Sarie El-Din, Chairman of the Senate Financial, Economic and Investment Affairs Committee, Dr. Sherif El Gabaly, the Chairman of Board of the Egyptian Chamber of Chemical Industries at the Federation Of Egyptian Industries, and Professor Mohamed Sameh Amr, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Cairo University.
Mr. Hossam Heiba said that there is a close link between the protection of competition and investment flows. He added that the neutrality of government entities in regulating business practices is a major determinant of the investment decision and the regularity of the economy, and there must be a strong entity regulating instruments of investor protection and competitive neutrality, referring to the provisions of Investment Law that complement the provisions of the Law on Protection of Competition and Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and the strategy of competitive neutrality. GAFI also contributes, through its role in settling investment disputes, to providing a neutral party between the private sector and the government to secure the rights of investors. He indicated that neutrality is a major determinant for resolving disputes, which are resolved satisfactorily for the private sector, supporting the investor and enabling him to compete with the government and private sectors.
He added that the next stage will witness an increase in the active role of the private sector in promoting investment and updating Egypt's Investment Map.
During the conference, Dr. Mahmoud Momtaz reviewed the national strategy to support competition policies and competitive neutrality, which is a major part of the State Ownership Policy Document, and Egypt Vision 2030, which emphasized the role of the private sector in achieving economic development. He indicated that enhancing competitiveness leads to an increase in the productivity of the Egyptian market at a rate of 50%, and an increase in GDP growth at rates of up to 2.5% without changing any other factor.
He added that the enactment of the neutrality strategy last May together with ECA's strategy 2021-2025 guarantee the provision of a fair and supportive investment environment to the investor. This is because ECA's strategy aims to achieve four goals: (i) enforcing the rule of law, (ii) preventing the passing of any legislation in prejudice to competitive neutrality, (iii) spreading a culture of competition protection, and (iv) raising ECA's efficiency. In order to achieve these goals, the Higher Committee for Competitive Neutrality has been established under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister.
Dr. Hani Sarie El-Din, Chairman of the Senate Financial, Economic and Investment Affairs Committee, said that the State's plan is aimed at restoring balance between the volume of private and public investments, as the private sector contributed to approximately two-thirds of the total volume of investments before 2010, while it participated in less than a third in the recent years.
Dr. Sherif El Gabaly stated that the launch of the competitive neutrality strategy is a legislative and executive shift in the field of investment. Moreover, such strategy is an implementation of Article 27 of the Egyptian Constitution, which stipulates that the economic system shall adhere to the standards of transparency and governance, support the pillars of competitiveness, encourage the investments, and achieve balanced growth on the geographical, sectorial and environmental levels, in addition to preventing the monopolistic practices.
