Horizons, by Ambassador Nabil Fahmy

9 July 2007

Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communication and Information Technology recently concluded a three-day trip to Washington from June 13th to June 15th 2007. While visits of Ministers and Officials from both Egypt and the United States are quite common, this visit was particularly interesting because it symbolizes in many respects what is happening in Egypt and what is important towards further developing Egyptian American relations. Dr. Kamel is in his early forties, young by any standards but particularly for old cultures like that of Egypt. Yet, he is a representative of the new Egypt, which today has a population of 75 million, 56% of this large population is actually 25 years or younger.

Equally interesting is that the Information Technology sector was the fastest growing sector of our economy last year with a robust 16%. Computer and Internet literacy has risen tremendously in Egypt and projected to reach a total of 3 million families in 2010. This is another indication that Egypt is on the move.

Equally significant is that this visit is yet another indication of the diversified nature of Egyptian-American economic relations. By expanding common interests, this visit serves as a valuable contribution to solidify and further develop our relations. The economic reform process in Egypt has been a vibrant success story since the advent of Dr. Nazif’s government of young reformists in July 2004. The Egyptian economy has reached a record of 7.1 % GDP-growth, while keeping the inflation rates checked. Privatization has been fostered without any increase in the levels of unemployment. Likewise, the taxation system was reformed, and property taxes reduced to encourage investment and custom tariffs decreased significantly without any negative impact on government spendings. These ambitious reforms have resulted in a significant surge in Foreign Direct Investment to Egypt to exceed 6 billion dollars.

Egypt’s economic reform is part of a wider Egyptian policy to create hope among its population while political reforms aim at encouraging Egyptians’ participation in public life and bring them more towards the center of the political spectrum. Several actions have been taken in that regard, the latest of which was holding the mid-term elections of the upper chamber of the Egyptian parliamentary (the Shura Council) which were held with more than 500 candidates competing for 77 seats. These elections were the first to be held since the amendment of 34 articles of the Egyptian Constitution earlier in March 2007. Economic and political reforms in Egypt are not conducted in vacuum. Egypt, as the heart of the Middle East, has led the way towards peace, stability and reform. As the violence persists in Iraq, Egypt underscored the importance it attaches to securing the future of a unified, stable, democratic and prosperous Iraq by hosting two conferences in Sharm el-Sheikh in May 2007, both aiming at addressing and ameliorating the situation in Iraq. These two-day conferences were the largest international ministerial meetings to be held on Iraq since 2003. Moreover, President Mubarak recently hosted an Arab Israeli Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh as part of the Egyptian efforts to revive the Palestinian Israeli peace process and end Israeli occupation of Arab lands.

Egypt looks forward to working with the United States in creating, and taking advantage of, opportunities for hope, peace and prosperity for the youthful generations of Egypt and the Middle East region. It is only through collaboration that these goals can be achieved.