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LUNCHEON MEETINGS
A decade of IT growth
A private tour of the Smart Village for AmCham members was held on January 2 to showcase how far Egypt’s communications and IT sector has come. The tour was followed by a luncheon with keynote speakers Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, and Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International and vice president of Microsoft Corporation.
Five years earlier, the technology park was an idea in the minds of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) team. The high-tech village has attracted multinationals as well as local companies and government bodies to set up offices next to MCIT headquarters.
But this is only one of MCIT’s achievements. Kamel pointed out that MCIT’s goals is to increase the average citizen’s access to computers. Accordingly, it introduced the PC for Every Home program that will make home PCs available for less than LE 1,600 in cooperation with Microsoft and other local and international partners. “We were able to get the full-fledged PC, with Windows and other accessories, for LE 1,500,” he said. “Installments will be...LE 47 per month,” he said.
Just as lowering the price of mobile service increased mobile phone penetration in Egypt, the PC for Every Home Program should achieve similar results for PCs. This, he noted, is a challenge that falls upon the ministry, the CIT community, multinationals working in Egypt and financing institutions.
On MCIT’s to-do list for 2006 is what Kamel calls the “third wave of deregulation” including the long-awaited issuance of a third mobile license and the international calling licenses. These steps come on the heels of Telecom Egypt’s (TE) very successful IPO in December 2005.
The second keynote speaker, Microsoft’s Courtois, pointed out that the IT giant was the first multinational to set up offices in the Smart Village. He highlighted the 2004 establishment of a Microsoft Developers Support Center in the Smart Village serving the Middle East and Africa as a base for advanced interactions with developers in English, Arabic and French.
Courtois also discussed Microsoft’s cooperation with the Ministry of Education with the launch of the Partners in Learning initiative in 2001, a program that trains thousands of teachers in IT and ensures that students gain an understanding of the technology. He stressed that all companies working in the sector have to support the government’s initiative to promote computer skills among the public, which is why Microsoft is supporting the PC for Every Home initiative. Cutting costs, though difficult, expands markets among populations without prior IT experience. Such changes, he pointed out, could make positive ripples in the economy.
Financing Egypt
On February 21, AmCham hosted keynote speaker Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Minister of Finance and Social Insurance, to address the topic “Financing Egypt.”
Boutros-Ghali unveiled a new plan to address the problem of loans for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The Ministry of Finance and Social Insurance, in coordination with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, earmarked LE 1 billion to forgive the bad debts of SMEs. “Starting today, we are going to identify LE 1 billion worth of these non-performing loans with a maximum of LE 20 million per loan and lift the burden off of these enterprises,” he said.
He discussed the shift to a more private sector-driven economy, which resulted in growth of 6.1 percent in the second quarter of FY 2005-06. He projected that growth would exceed 7 percent with the help of the private sector. “It won’t be easy or straightforward, but I believe that the only future for this country is a future driven by the private sector,” he said.
And the government is taking steps to increase the role of the private sector. “The tax law has been changed. The customs law has been changed. Both were a major hindrance to economic development and were a major offset to profitable investment. Changing legislation is the easy part; changing administration is more complex. Changing administration is where the private sector can help.”
Discussing economic policy, Boutros-Ghali stressed that the government is focusing on low-income groups, particularly on the issue of subsidies. “We have the responsibility of making sure that [low-income groups] are not harmed during the transition to a higher growth rate environment,” he said. “We’re revisiting subsidies to make them more efficient.”
Meanwhile, all Egyptians will benefit from a proposal to reduce property taxes. Boutros-Ghali said a draft law was being prepared to reduce property taxes from the current 46 percent to 10 percent. In conclusion, Boutros-Ghali explained that the government and private sector must reach a new understanding in their relationship. He said the responsibility now rests on the government on one hand, and the private sector and civil society on the other. If either fails, the entire system will fail, he concluded.
The keynote speech was followed by a discussion with panelists Taher Helmy, AmCham board member; EFG-Hermes founder, Mohamed Taymour; adviser to the Arab Monetary Fund, Hazem Biblawy; and president of the Egyptian Tax Society, Ahmed Shawki.
US Secretary of Commerce urges global trade
Discussing the importance of trade in narrowing the gap between developed and developing countries, US Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, addressed AmCham members on March 2, pointing out that countries on both sides need to work together to achieve a sustainable momentum of global trade. He sees this happening at both the global and regional levels. “There is nothing more that we can do for [other] nations than to trade and do business with them,” he said.
Turning his attention to Egypt, Gutierrez acknowledged the significance of the trade relationship between Egypt and the US, where bilateral trade exceeded $5 billion in 2005, a 25 percent increase over the previous year. He said American companies have invested over $4 billion in Egypt and US President George W. Bush is committed to expanding trade and commercial relations throughout the region, where Egypt is a “vital” partner. Liberalizing trade promotes economic growth and prosperity, and in Egypt’s case, will open the door for 72 million Egyptians to consume American products and 295 million Americans to consume Egyptian goods, he said.
On the Egypt-US free trade agreement (FTA), negotiations for which were to begin in February but lost momentum after the US voiced its displeasure at the pace of Egypt’s reform, Gutierrez stated that the FTA would take place “when the time is right.” He highlighted the success of the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) Agreement, noting that companies located in Egyptian QIZs exported more than $100 million to the US in the first eight months of 2005. He also commended Egypt’s recent custom reforms, income and corporate tax reforms, reduced energy subsidies and banking and industrial privatization as steps in the right direction. However, he noted that Egypt could make some improvement when it comes to intellectual property rights (IPR) in order to create an environment more conducive to investment.
Mansour recounts first 100 days in office
Minister of Transport and former AmCham President Mohamed Mansour recounted his first 100 days as minister on May 8 to nearly 600 attendees. AmCham president Taher Helmy used the opportunity to thank Peter Kaestner, outgoing consul general of the US Embassy, for his efforts over the previous period. He also recognized AmCham members Loula Zaklama, Odette Iskander and Nawal Aldijiwi, who were among 50 Arab businesswomen recognized for their achievements in Forbes Arabia magazine.
He then congratulated Mansour for his efforts as AmCham president from 1999 to 2003. Amidst applause, Mansour expressed his gratitude for his recent ministerial appointment, through which he oversees 23 different authorities including railways, ports, roads and bridges, buses, underground metro and Nile transport. He then discussed the experience of the first 100 days in office.
“What I have found is that transportation is the backbone of the economy. If it doesn’t function properly, everything slows down,” he said. A month after his appointment, tragedy thrust him into the spotlight after a poorly maintained ferry returning from Saudi Arabia sank on February 3 in the Red Sea, killing some 1,000 of the 1,400 on board.
He wanted to ensure that the investigation was transparent and honest, explaining that the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) and its secretary-general provided assistance in establishing an international technical investigating committee. The press was particularly critical of how the entire situation was handled.
“My role as a minister is to determine what we can do to prevent these things from happening,” he noted. He outlined the ministry’s objectives, noting that safety is a main goal. “I want to declare safety my top priority. We have increased safety standards.”
To this end, a crisis management division was established and 22 new safety inspectors employed. He noted that the ministry has acquired an automatic identification system (AIS) transponder, allowing ships to exchange navigation and vessel data with each other and with coastal stations.
After safety comes efficiency. “We have to improve the efficiency of the transport system,” Mansour stressed. The Egyptian railway system needs major improvements. The 155-year-old system is the world’s second oldest and moves half a billion people a year. Unfortunately, it has become dilapidated with significant losses annually in maintenance. He then briefly outlined plans for a massive reconstruction of the rail network with financing from international investors. At the end of the luncheon, AmCham presented the minister with an honorary AmCham membership.
US ambassador hails Egypt’s economic reforms
AmCham held its 24th Annual General Meeting on May 31 with keynote speaker Francis Ricciardone, the US ambassador to Egypt, who highlighted different aspects of Egypt-US relations and Egypt’s reforms.
Hisham Fahmy, AmCham executive director, reflected on AmCham’s 24 years of service to its members and the business community. He said the coming year, with AmCham marking its 25th Anniversary, would be a time to reflect on the evolution of Egypt’s society, economy and politics.
The first order of business was an overview of AmCham’s financial statement by Tarek Mansour, country senior partner of Mansour & Co. PricewaterhouseCoopers, who explained that the finances were in great shape with the year ending with a healthy surplus.
AmCham president Taher Helmy then gave an overview of the achievements of the previous 12 months, highlighting the list of guest speakers and noting that AmCham reached a new milestone with more than 1,200 active members.
Upon taking the podium, Ricciardone reflected on his first nine months as US ambassador, noting that Egypt’s economic, social and political changes didn’t affect the warmth and generosity of Egyptians. The strategic role of Egypt in the Middle East also didn’t change. “The changes that you are working on here in trade and investment, democracy and education are going to set the new standard for others across the Arab world,” he said.
The Egyptian cabinet and business community have a new mindset indicating that Egypt is open for business, competition, challenges, growth and change. “Unfortunately we are seeing some serious resistance to reforms that favor opening to competition and change. [That] very fact tells me that the process has become meaningful enough to provoke such reaction from some who may fear change.”
Ricciardone pointed out that while change is inevitable, progress is not. Yet in the case of Egypt, he is confident that “both political and economic reform ultimately will prevail – simply because it must prevail.” He stated that in nine months, a number of high-profile US officials have visited Egypt, including: Vice President Dick Cheney, four cabinet members, three agency chiefs, 29 members of Congress, countless important executive branch officers, congressional staffers and distinguished private American educators, artists and scientists.
On the democracy front, he explained that the country’s reform agenda highlights the challenges to democracy. He pointed out that President Mubarak’s reform agenda includes: “strengthening the electoral systems and political parties, strengthening the judiciary and its independence; replacing the emergency law with a modern counter terrorism statute that also protects individual freedoms; protecting and expanding freedom of speech; empowering local councils and decentralizing governance; limiting the state’s authority to hold people without charge; and shifting more authority and responsibility to the parliament.”
In terms of prosperity, Ricciardone pointed out that Egypt had seized the opportunity and made “painstaking” reforms since the appointment of the Nazif cabinet in July 2004. He used statistics from the US Department of Commerce to illustrate his point – US imports from Egypt rose 57 percent, while American exports to Egypt rose just 2 percent; new American investments in Egypt increased 16 percent in 2005, reaching $764 million – this is on top of existing American investments that totaled $3 billion in 2004.
In conclusion, he pointed out that if everyone keeps an open mind, Egypt will achieve its goals.
Health minister diagnoses nation’s healthcare system
Dr. Hatem El Gabaly, minister of health and population, shared his diagnosis of the country’s healthcare system on June 12. He noted that key health indicators have improved. Life expectancy for males rose to 67 years from 44 years in the 1960s while for women, it rose to 71 years from just 46. Infant mortality rate, which in 1960 was 186 per 1,000 live births while child mortality was 104 per 1,000 live births, decreased to 33 and 39 respectively.
Despite the improvements, the minister noted that the healthcare system is plagued by problems, including lack of real health coverage and a safety net for low-income individuals, inequitable distribution of services and insufficient financing. The quality of healthcare is another problem, he noted. He explained that due to the lack of confidence in the public health system, most people bypass health insurance with almost 62 percent of the population paying for health services.
El Gabaly then discussed a number of initiatives designed to “produce quick results that can be felt within the coming year or two.” In parallel, he noted, structural reforms must also be undertaken. He stressed that new initiatives will have to be assessed on their broad impact, feasibility and need. Reexamining how the Ministry of Health utilizes the budget is also important.
As for structural changes, El Gabaly pointed out that these will take years and the major issues that have to be addressed, starting today, include access, financing, provision and system stewardship. He explained the importance of healthcare packages and mandatory, universal health insurance.
IT reform as a magnet for investment
AmCham Egypt hosted a special luncheon in New York City on June 22 with Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamel; John Meyer, president of Lucent Technologies Global Sales & Services; and Robert Shepardson, managing director of global capital markets, Morgan Stanley.
It was attended by over 200 executives from US finance and business corporations and was sponsored by Cisco Systems International, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley and the Telecom & Technology Company (TeleTech), and supported by Citigroup, Lucent Technologies and the Bank of New York.
In his opening remarks, AmCham president Taher Helmy spoke of Egypt’s favorable investment climate, noting that foreign direct investment (FDI) has tripled to reach $4 billion in 2005.
Kamel highlighted the role of the IT industry and its deregulation in economic reforms. Egypt’s IT sector employs over 40,000 people with total investments topping LE 30 billion. He discussed a new framework for convergence, a new education quality assurance and accreditation agency, and the restructuring of subsidies and tariffs in fixed services. The minister cited successful initiatives to expand broadband services, the IPO of a 20 percent stake in Telecom Egypt (TE) resulting in $1 billion in revenues, improvements in mobile technology especially in light of the auction of the country’s third mobile license, won by the UAE-based Etisalat for LE 16.7 billion.
He explained that public-private partnerships (PPPs) played a key role in IT development including reforming the education system at the pre-university and university levels through projects in partnership with Cisco, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Siemens, Intel and Lucent.
Another PPP initiative aims at increasing broadband usage in Egypt. “We are fully convinced that broadband, DSL and Internet penetration [comprise] the backbone of the economic and political reform process in Egypt,” he said.
John Meyer, president of Lucent Technologies global sales & services, discussed the role communications play in emerging nations. Economies can take advantage of communications growth to become further connected to the global economy, removing the geographical barrier. “It’s not where you are or how far away you are [that’s important], but rather how you are communicating across the global village network and offering near-universal access to information.”
He summarized Lucent’s history in Egypt and the region since 1982, noting that it had generated $8 billion in revenue across the Middle East over the last six years. Egypt, he stated, can take advantage of the evolving IT marketplace if it focuses on distributing products to end consumers at affordable prices by combining systems, services, technology and a strong R&D capability.
The final speaker, Robert Shepardson, managing director of global capital markets, Morgan Stanley, discussed the key trends of convergence affecting the industry globally. He explained that convergence evolved from the debate over fixed and mobile technology.
A signing ceremony was held between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Lucent, Telecom Egypt and Lucent’s business partner in Egypt, TeleTech. The non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with TeleTech is to provide it technical support and services in connection with its proposed optimization of TE’s network. TeleTech signed a similar MoU with TE.
Lucent also signed a tripartite non-binding MoU with both TeleTech and MCIT, under which Lucent may provide high-speed data (Internet) access to schools within the coverage of an existing fixed wireless TE network (CDMA 1X) project in the Delta and Alexandria region. The target schools are part of the Egyptian Educational Initiative (EEI).
Natural gas promises to energize economy
Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy and British Gas (BG Egypt) CEO Frank Chapman reflected on Egypt’s natural gas industry on September 6.
Chapman noted that since BG Egypt was a strong player in the sector, it had ideas to stimulate investments and exploration in the sector. He noted that since 1994, natural gas has grown from 18 percent of Egyptian hydrocarbon production to 60 percent mostly due to a positive approach to foreign investment allowing the “transfer of new technologies directly to the gas industry” and expanded global demand for Egyptian gas.
But Egypt has also used natural gas domestically to protect the environment. Chapman pointed out that 85 percent of all electricity generation in Egypt is fueled by natural gas. Yet, he had concerns over the current trajectory of gas production.
Subsidizing natural gas for domestic use freed up oil for export. However, Chapman questioned the logic of the subsidies today. Due to a dramatic rise in global energy prices, exploration and extraction costs have shot up. Given the level of energy subsidies, this makes the returns on investment in the sector very low. Chapman argued that energy subsidies are unsustainable.
Petroleum minister Sameh Fahmy gave an overview of the development of the oil and gas sector over the last several decades, acknowledging the role of multinational investments. He agreed with Chapman that the biggest challenge is greater demand for petroleum products in the highly subsidized domestic market. “Increasing local demand is limiting investment opportunities and is definitely minimizing revenues to the petroleum sector,” he said. For example, domestic demand for these products rose from 30 million tons in FY 1995-96 to 52 million tons in FY 2005-06, nearly a 75 percent increase.
Another challenge is the depletion of reserves causing “production plateaus,” which put a financial strain on investment. This, in combination with dramatically increasing costs of exploration and extraction, has hurt the profitability of the industry. The solution, he noted, is increased production efficiency and amortization within oil and gas companies operating in Egypt. But to increase efficiency, additional investment is needed to develop new concessions as well as human capital and the adoption of the latest science and technology.
Microsoft CEO outlines future of IT
AmCham hosted an Iftar on October 19 with guest speakers Tarek Kamel, minister of communications and information technology, and Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corp., to discuss the role of IT in Egypt’s development. Both were optimistic about the country’s prospects of leveraging technology for job creation and productivity growth in the public and private sectors.
Speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Kamel explained that the government’s goal was to outline a “strategic vision for the social [and] economic reform of Egypt.” One key aspect of this is the government’s partnership with Microsoft to develop e-government services. “Our e-government partnership with Microsoft is a model being implemented in many neighboring countries,” he noted.
Animated and upbeat, Ballmer shared his vision of the role of IT in human development and how Microsoft expects to lead the way in fulfilling it. “Ten years from now, all forms of human knowledge and communication will be available... on your computer, all digital,” he predicted.
He praised the Egyptian government’s development goals. “There is a lot of technology talent here and I’ll say certainly there is no government I’ve ever met, anywhere in the world, where there is more focus on technology both as a driver of economic growth and an important supporter in improvement in government and social operations,” he said.
He noted that his company supports Egyptian initiatives because, profits aside, “the real value of information technology is what it does to enable people to do things they never dreamed were possible.”
The key change, he says, will be in integrating disparate technologies to facilitate communication, entertainment and data manipulation. Ballmer went on to comment on the Egyptian market specifically. “If you think about technology talent per GDP dollar, I think Egypt would be an upper echelon country,” he said, explaining that this makes it a good country in which to invest.
Google CEO explains power of the Internet
On December 3, Google CEO Eric Schmidt discussed the power of the Internet in today’s world. He spoke about the value of the Internet, specifically for the Middle East, explaining the pros and cons to embracing the technology. On one hand, it presents a security threat while on the other, prosperity and instant access to a global knowledge bank. He described the role of Google in making the Internet more accessible by simplifying searches and providing services in several languages, including Arabic. “The Internet has changed the way people think of information. It has democratized access to [information],” he explained.
Schmidt pointed out that free access to information is very liberating, but should not be taken lightly. “While talking about the Internet I think about freedom, and I think about responsibility,” he said. Although the Internet is a “great unifier,” it can also be abused. “There are very real piracy and security hazards...which raises the question ‘where does freedom of speech begin and end?’” The answer, he says, is that “it differs by country and by society.”
The solution to these concerns is not censorship, but the adoption of appropriate laws that protect individual privacy and intellectual property rights and tackle national security threats.
Internet penetration in the Middle East and North Africa has reached 9 percent, or 26 million people. To increase penetration, Google has begun providing services such as free e-mail in Arabic, and is developing software to translate content.
Google’s CEO went on to predict that people will use a variety of devices to access the Internet, especially mobile phones. “There are [about] 2 billion mobile phones worldwide and the growth rate of mobile phones is twice that of personal computers. All the [latest] mobile phones are Internet capable, so it is likely that much of your children’s use of the Internet will be based on mobile phones.” The impact of collecting huge amounts of information and knowledge on the Internet to be accessed by billions is hard to overstate. Schmidt noted that the Internet fundamentally changes production, distribution, publishing and individual freedom.
Breakfast Meetings
The fizz is back in the economy
Neville Isdell, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company, was the guest speaker at a special breakfast on January 22 to offer an international perspective on the Egyptian economy. Isdell was impressed with the economic reforms adopted by the Egyptian government over the previous 18 months. “The policies of opening up the Egyptian market have had a tremendous positive impact on the growth of the economy, employment and investment,” he said. “I am equally pleased to see that the government is applying a process of ‘publicization’ of Egypt’s leading businessmen in order to bring them into cabinet.”
While the economic growth was impressive, it still remained true that in order for the economy to meet the growing demand for employment, more liberalization and more job creation are needed. “I see this as great potential not just for us, but also for many other companies looking for large markets into which to invest. With such a large consumer base, this market will always be one of the most attractive.”
He discussed the steps taken to improve the country’s overall investment climate, referring to the case of soft drinks, the tariffs on which have been reduced. “However, the government needs to continue to consider what would make the business environment in Egypt even more attractive and continue to implement these decisions.”
US-Egypt trade relations: an assessment
AmCham held a special breakfast meeting on March 29 with Edmund Saums, director for Middle East affairs at the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), to discuss “US-Egypt trade relations: an assessment.” Saums, a frequent visitor to the region, briefed AmCham members on the nature of US trade policy, explaining the difference between the USTR and the US Department of Commerce. He also spoke about the status of the proposed Egypt-US free trade agreement.
Visa backlog fades away
On 25 May, AmCham hosted guest speaker Peter G. Kaestner, counselor for consular affairs and consul general, US embassy in Egypt, who outlined improvements over the past two years in the consulate’s visa issuance process. He noted that when he arrived in August 2004, US embassies around the world were instructed by Washington to give priority to visa applications where a family member had passed away. No consideration was given to important business trips or for parents wishing to visit to see their child graduate. Visa applicants faced a four-month backlog, making business and personal trips impossible.
Kaestner explained that the embassy did its best to reduce the backlog, giving priority to cases that were previously disregarded. The embassy now requires Egyptians to fill out their visa application forms online and print them. Embassy staff scan the bar code on the printed application, which contains all the data the applicant has entered. This speeds up the visa process by reducing typing time and human errors. Due to these changes, the visa backlog has been reduced to about three weeks. In anticipation of the busy summer season, new interview officers will be added to help ease the load.
He admitted that not all applicants would receive a visa. Unfortunately, this “fact of life” has created a negative perception about the US visa process. To counter this, the embassy developed a brochure in Arabic and English explaining the visa process and informing rejected applicants what options they still have.
Other issues addressed during the briefing included the subjectivity of the visa issuance process, improvements that are currently being made to the embassy’s visa waiting area and how an applicant’s travel patterns to certain countries, such as Pakistan and Iran, can affect their chances of getting a US visa.
Darwish lists ingredients of good governance
AmCham’s ICT Committee held a special breakfast on July 6 with guest speaker Ahmed Darwish, minister of state for administrative development, who gave a presentation entitled “The road to good governance... are we serious?”
In July 2005, Darwish’s office proposed 26 principles to change the way government works and its relationship with civil society. The plan, Darwish explained, recognized the necessary ingredients for in a country to achieve good governance, the most important being “a governing body that is efficient and effective, and the active participation of civil society.” At the state level, he noted, there is a redefinition of the role of government.
As for enhancing the participation of civil society, he explained that according to Article 27 of the Egyptian constitution, “those who benefit from public projects should share in managing and monitoring these projects.” While steps were being taken to involve civil society in decision making, much needs to be done from the bottom up.
He stated that the adoption of public-private partnerships (PPPs) is helpful, particularly in implementing e-government program, electrical distribution networks and the family smart card pilot program.
The minister then addressed proposals to deal with the size and quality of central government. Plans are under way to “redefine government jobs that are not part of its core business,” noting that Egypt’s 6 million-strong government workforce includes 983,000 teachers, approximately 400,000 doctors and medical professionals, 367,000 maintenance workers and about 626,000 “support services” workers who clean and cater public offices. “These are not government employees anywhere in the world by any definition,” he asserted.
The goal now is to reclassify each job into a specific category so that the government can be trimmed down to a more manageable size.
Investment minister expounds on corporate governance
The newly formed Corporate Governance Committee hosted Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin on November 13, to discuss how corporate governance in Egypt affects the bottom line.
Mohieldin outlined the government’s corporate governance initiatives pushing companies to be more accountable to their stakeholders. Following his appointment, he established the Egyptian Institute of Directors (EIoD) to promote the principles of corporate governance.
In October 2005, Egypt adopted a draft Corporate Governance Code based on principles developed six years earlier by the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), which are intended to help governments to evaluate and improve the legal, institutional and regulatory framework for corporate governance.
The three pillars of corporate governance are “fairness, transparency and accountability,” the minister explained. The separation of power between shareholders and management is essential to avoid politicization of the firm and should be applied regardless of the type of management a company has.
He identified three types of companies in Egypt. The first includes companies listed on the stock exchange, and monitored by the Capital Market Authority (CMA). The second consists of state-owned compa
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