Speaking at the annual conference of the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA), Kouchouk, identified tax neutrality as a crucial pillar for promoting "fair competition" and attracting greater investment flows. He highlighted the ECA's advanced nature, its openness to global developments and best practices, its skilled workforce, and its significant role in refining mechanisms to strengthen competitive neutrality, a point underscored in discussions with international institutions.
He further noted that the "State Ownership Policy"
document prioritizes embedding competition among all stakeholders to accelerate
economic growth and enhance competitiveness. The implementation of the law
eliminating preferential tax treatment for all state entities has strongly
incentivized private investment.
Kouchouk, clarified that the efforts to support competition
are yielding positive results, as evidenced by the first half of the current
fiscal year's indicators, where the private sector accounts for approximately
60% of total investments over six months with an 80% growth rate. Additionally,
there are 10 public-private partnership investment projects underway in the
current fiscal year.
The Minister also pointed out significant six-month growth
rates in key sectors: tourism (13.1%), manufacturing (12.4%), and
communications and information technology (15.1%). 1 He also noted the rise in
the economic growth rate from 2.5% to 3.9% between July and December 2024.
Kouchouk concluded by emphasizing the ongoing commitment to expanding the private sector's role in economic activity through further initiatives that incentivize production and export.