Egypt’s Public Investments Grow 535% In 6 Years

 Egyptian Minister of Planning Hala Al-Saeed (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egyptian Minister of Planning Hala Al-Saeed (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Egypt’s Public Investments Grow 535% In 6 Years

 Egyptian Minister of Planning Hala Al-Saeed (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egyptian Minister of Planning Hala Al-Saeed (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Egyptian Minister of Planning Hala Al-Saeed said that her country expects growth rate to range between six and seven percent in the second quarter of the current fiscal year.

She stressed that the government has been keen to maintain the boom achieved in public investments improve the quality of life, upgrade the level of services, and stimulate comprehensive and sustainable economic growth.

In this regard, the minister noted that the volume of public investments in the current during 2021-2022 amounted to about 933 billion pounds ($59 billion), with a growth rate of 46 percent compared to the previous year, and an increase of 535 percent compared to the 2014-2015.

Saeed was speaking on Tuesday, during the third edition of the Egypt Economic Summit, which is held under the auspices of the Council of Ministers.

She said that the cumulative total of public investments during the period of 2014-2022 amounted to about 3.6 trillion pounds ($230 billion), and the per capita share of public investments this fiscal year increased by 44 percent compared to the previous year, and by 440 percent compared to 2014-2015.

Saeed emphasized the government’s determination to pump huge investments to boost the economy at an accelerated pace, by pushing the wheel of investment, production and employment in all economic sectors, and focusing on developing infrastructure and advancing the human and social development sectors.

Saeed added that despite the relative recovery of global economic indicators with an expected growth rate of 5.9 percent in 2021, the effects of the pandemic are still present, especially with the emergence of new variants and their negative repercussions on the supply chains worldwide.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.