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Al-Qasabi: Over 70% of Saudi Investor Problems in Egypt Have Been Resolved

Egypt Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly meets with Saudi Commerce Minister Majed Al-Qasabi and his accompanying delegation. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egypt Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly meets with Saudi Commerce Minister Majed Al-Qasabi and his accompanying delegation. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Al-Qasabi: Over 70% of Saudi Investor Problems in Egypt Have Been Resolved

Egypt Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly meets with Saudi Commerce Minister Majed Al-Qasabi and his accompanying delegation. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egypt Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly meets with Saudi Commerce Minister Majed Al-Qasabi and his accompanying delegation. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Qasabi said more than 70 percent of the problems facing Saudi investors in Egypt have been solved.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly received a Saudi delegation led by the Saudi Minister and included Chairman of the Saudi-Egyptian Business Council Bandar al-Amiri, several Saudi businessmen, Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) Hossam Heiba, and Ambassador Osama al-Nugali.

During the meeting, they discussed ways to enhance economic and trade partnership between Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The Prime Minister welcomed the Saudi Minister and his accompanying delegation, stressing the strength of the bilateral relations between Egypt and the Kingdom.

Madbouly indicated that cooperation between them will continue to serve common issues.

He stressed that Egypt continues to improve the investment climate, removing obstacles, and resolving investor issues.

For his part, Qasabi explained that the Egyptian government is trying to solve the remaining issues.

He confirmed that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, have issued directives to continue cooperation with Egypt and increase Saudi investments in its markets.

The accompanying delegation included 91 Saudi businessmen, said Qasabi, noting that they held meetings with Egyptian officials, and as a result, they developed three paths for cooperation.

The first path includes investment in the industrial sector with the aim of integration.

The chambers of commerce of the two countries and the Businessmen Association agreed to identify opportunities and determine priorities, said Qasabi, adding that they would develop a clear roadmap to promote the opportunities.

The second track discusses integration to implement projects by Egyptian and Saudi ministries through integration between their governments.

The final addressed institutional work between Saudi Arabia and Egypt to define the roles of business and chambers of commerce and the tasks assigned to them.

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IMF Sees Steady Global Growth

FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
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IMF Sees Steady Global Growth

FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa

The International Monetary Fund expects the world economy to grow a little faster and inflation to keep falling this year. But it warned that the outlook is clouded by President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to slash US taxes, impose tariffs on foreign goods, ease regulations on businesses and deport millions of immigrants working illegally in the United States.

The Washington-based lending agency expects the world economy to grow 3.3% this year and next, up from 3.2% in 2024. The growth is steady but unimpressive: From 2000 to 2019, the world economy grew faster – an average of 3.7% a year. The sluggish growth reflects the lingering effects of big global shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The IMF is a 191-nation lending organization that works to promote economic growth and financial stability and to reduce global poverty.

Global inflation, which had surged after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains and caused shortages and higher prices, is forecast to fall from 5.7% in 2024 to 4.2% this year and 3.5% in 2026.

But in a blog post that accompanied the release of the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook report, the fund’s chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, wrote that the policies Trump has promised to introduce “are likely to push inflation higher in the near term,” The Associated Press reported.

Big tax cuts could overheat the US economy and inflation. Likewise, hefty tariffs on foreign products could at least temporarily push up prices and hurt exporting countries around the world. And mass deportations could cause restaurants, construction companies and other businesses to run short of workers, pushing up their costs and weighing on economic growth.

Gourinchas also wrote that Trump’s plans to slash regulations on business could “boost potential growth in the medium term if they remove red tape and stimulate innovation.’’ But he warned that “excessive deregulation could also weaken financial safeguards and increase financial vulnerabilities, putting the US economy on a dangerous boom-bust path.’’

Trump inherits a strong US economy. The IMF expects US growth to come in at 2.7% this year, a hefty half percentage point upgrade from the 2.2% it had forecast in October.

The American economy — the world's biggest — is proving resilient in the face of high interest rates, engineered by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation. The US is benefiting from a strong job market that gives consumers the confidence and financial wherewithal to keep spending, from strong gains in productivity and from an influx of immigrants that has eased labor shortages.

The US economy’s unexpectedly strong performance stands in sharp contrast to the advanced economies across the Atlantic Ocean. The IMF expects the 20 countries that share the euro currency to collectively grow just 1% this year, up from 0.8% in 2024 but down from the 1.2% it was expecting in October. “Headwinds,” Gourinchas wrote, “include weak momentum, especially in manufacturing, low consumer confidence, and the persistence of a negative energy price shock’’ caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Chinese economy, No. 2 in the world, is forecast to decelerate – from 4.8% last year to 4.6% in 2025 and 4.5% in 2026. A collapse in the Chinese housing market has undermined consumer confidence. If government doesn’t do enough to stimulate the economy with lower interest rates, stepped-up spending or tax cuts, China “is at risk of a debt-deflation stagnation trap,’’ Gourinchas warned, in which falling prices discourage consumers from spending (because they have an incentive to wait to get still better bargains) and make it more expensive for borrowers to repay loans.

The IMF forecasts came out a day after its sister agency, the World Bank, predicted global growth of 2.7% in 2025 and 2026, same as last year and 2023.

The bank, which makes loans and grants to poor countries, warned that the growth wasn’t sufficient to reduce poverty in low-income countries. The IMF’s global growth estimates tend to be higher than the World Bank’s because they give more weight to faster-growing developing countries.