Egypt to reap economic reform fruits in 2018: minister

CAIRO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Egypt will reap the fruits of its economic reform program and the new pro-investment laws and regulations in 2018, said the Egyptian minister of trade and industry in a statement on Sunday.

"During 2017, Egypt opened 1,202 new factories with total investments of 27 billion pounds (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) and total production of 19 billion pounds, providing 38,000 job opportunities in 24 provinces," said Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil in the statement.

Egypt decided last year to fully float the exchange rate of its local currency to contain shortage of the U.S. dollar reserves and embark on a strict three-year economic reform program including fuel and energy subsidy cuts and higher taxes.

Suffering economic slowdown over the past few years due to political turmoil and security challenges, the floatation of the Egyptian pound encouraged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support Egypt's economic reform plan by a 12-billion-dollar loan, half of which has already been delivered to the North African country.

Kabil said that the industry sector achieved "unprecedented success" during the outgoing year, which positively reflected on the country's growth rate and the competitiveness of the Egyptian products, "as asserted by international reports and the Economist magazine."

He added that the industrial achievement in 2017 included launching of Egypt's first investment map highlighting 4,136 investment opportunities in eigh sectors and issuing of a new law facilitating industrial licenses.

"An Egyptian-Chinese deal was also signed to develop and operate the industrial city in Abu Znimah in South Sinai," said the minister while citing the progress made in the field of industry in 2017.

The trade and industry minister noted that Egypt also signed with Singapore a memorandum of understanding to establish a complete industrial city in Fayoum province south of Cairo on an area of 33 million sq km. Enditem