São Paulo – Sunday (7th) in Cairo, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is going to present its survey Strategy for Developing the Business Environment in Egypt, containing suggestions of reforms in order for the country to progress in the economic sphere.
"Egypt has taken large strides towards improving its business environment over the last five years, but wider reforms are still needed in order to attract a greater volume of foreign investment, and so that the country may realize its full economic potential," says a statement issued by the multilateral organization.
Suggestions include urgent modernization of regulatory frameworks for business, the seeking of financing for industrial infrastructure, effective enforcement of anti-corruption laws, and improvement of the educational and professional training systems.
According to the OECD’s statement, the document covers 12 areas, ranging from investment to foreign trade, taxes, fighting corruption, infrastructure, and development of human resources.
It also shows sectors in which progress has already been made, such as investment attraction policy, income tax reform, import tariffs reduction, improvement of customs services, and a comprehensive banking reform.
With regard to investment, the survey also presents areas in which the reforms already implemented were incomplete, such as transparency and predictability of administrative decisions, improvement of licensing processes, increased credit for small and medium companies, and greater access to land.
According to the organization, the report is part of the Mena-OECD Investment Program, which evaluates the economies of 18 Middle Eastern and North African countries. Another document of the type, about Morocco, should be released by the end of the year.
Egypt is the most populated country in the Arab world and has the second economy, after Saudi Arabia. It is also the second leading importer of Brazilian products in the region, with nearly US$ 1.4 billion in purchases from January to September this year, according to information from the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
Besides, Egypt was the second country outside of Latin America to sign a free trade agreement with the Mercosur, in August this year. As a result, the secretary general of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, believes that trade between Brazil and Egypt may double within three years.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
