The turmoil following the January 25, 2011 Revolution, the rule of former president, Muhammad Morsi, and his subsequent ouster has thrown Egypt’s economy into a recession. I am traveling around and meeting with lots of Egyptians who have been severely affected by the economic problems Egypt is facing. George Messiha, a young pharmacist who we have mentioned several times in our newsletters, lost his company due to European producers insisting on payment up front for their products, while Egyptian customers continuously delayed their payments. Thousands of other Egyptian companies have folded since the Revolution and all have their own stories to tell. It is therefore extremely important that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are showing confidence in rebuilding Egypt’s economy. Also political motives play a role. The UAE wants stability in the region and helping Egypt to rebuild its economy will be a major contributor to this. Egypt has great opportunities in many different areas, but needs support to improve its performance.

Cornelis Hulsman interviewed by Nile TV

Government agencies as well as private companies have a staggering percentage of manual work which has been long automatized in other countries. Of course the Egyptian government is apprehensive about laying off a large number of government staff because this will affect peoples’ incomes. Yet, working with a more efficient workforce will benefit both government and companies in the long run. Naturally, this cannot be done overnight and workers must be compensated with an adequate severance package that will make it possible to live. Those workers who have been laid off could also then be involved in community-building work in order to give them a new place in society. I have seen good examples of this in the Netherlands and this should be possible in Egypt as well.

There is no question that changes are needed in Egypt. How this is done, however, is no easy task. It is therefore good the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are launching an investment forum. With talk about change comes the need for investments.

As a European I would hope that Europeans would also invest in Egypt. In my opinion, Egypt is a great country with a wealth of opportunities and respectable people that deserve a better future. Europeans have been holding off. Europeans and Americans talk about a coup d’état. It is true that Morsi was ousted without a proper impeachment process or elections, but it is equally true that the resistance against Morsi was very large. Elections will come, but prior to this it would be useful to explore opportunities to invest in Egypt. The UAE is taking the lead, but I hope Europe and the U.S. will follow, for the sake of all Egyptians.

With these ideas in mind, a small team from our office visited the launch of the Egyptian-Gulf Investment Forum. Research intern, Ahmed Deiab, described what we found here.

Cornelis Hulsman
Editor-in-chief, Arab-West Report