Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce in Washington during the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings and G20 gatherings, Kouchouk detailed the 2025/2026 budget's focus on stimulating production, exports, manufacturing, and tourism. He noted that tax and customs reforms now aim to build trust with the business community, expanding the tax base by incentivizing voluntary compliance.
Kouchouk reported "encouraging and ambitious"
nine-month financial performance, highlighting Egypt's economic potential and
promising local and foreign private sector investment opportunities. He
outlined government efforts to enhance Egypt's regional and international
competitiveness and affirmed coordinated actions to create an investor-friendly
environment through comprehensive structural reforms boosting economic
activity, productivity, and competitiveness.
Acknowledging economic challenges, Kouchouk stressed the
government's flexible approach to alleviate production and export burdens and
expressed a desire for increased US investments in key sectors for technology
transfer, positioning Egypt as a regional production and export hub. He also
outlined a strategy to reduce debt burdens and diversify funding sources.
Furthermore, Kouchouk emphasized Egypt's openness to
international expertise in innovative financing to reduce debt and servicing
costs, noting the need for emerging economies to attract long-term and private
investments.
In a meeting with MIGA Executive Vice President Hiroshi Matano, he called for a greater role for investment guarantees in enabling developing countries to secure development financing and stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation with MIGA to enhance private sector confidence and investment in Egypt.