Investment Minister briefs women conference on achievements

CAIRO – 2 July 2017: Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Sahar Nasr, briefed the conference “Egypt Can by Women” on Sunday by discussing her efforts in empowering and improving the living conditions of women through training and job creation.

Nasr praised the status of women in decision-making by stating, “Currently there are four female ministers out of 34 ministers, a female governor, and 89 female MPs out of 596 MPs, which are all unprecedented in Egypt.”

The conference is held within the framework of the state’s plan to empower women as President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi declared 2017 as a year for women empowerment.

Nasr said that the ministry is keeping record of women’s status in Egypt for accurate national statistics to aide in making decisions in favor of women. She announced that the ministry is establishing an office dedicated to helping Egyptian and foreign business women to facilitate official procedures for them.

The Minister also announced that the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) selected Egypt to hold the Women’s Economic Empowerment Conference by the end of 2017.

Nasr talked about her experience in office as she assumed her current position in September 2015. She said that she drew up a work plan with a clear timetable for the economic reforms program. The plan is based on an in-depth analysis of the status quo through social dialogue with partners from the private and the civil sectors and will be mainly executed by youth, Nasr explained.

The plan is divided into three phases. The first is securing financing for the infrastructure necessary for investments, especially in Upper Egypt’s governorates and the most deprived villages. Since 2015, the