Egypt’s economy is strong, diversified: Minister Hala el-Saeed

CAIRO – 26 September 2018: Egypt's economy is strong and diversified, Planning Minister Hala el-Saeed said, stressing that what is circulating about fears of a real estate bubble that could affect the Egyptian economy is incorrect.

Saeed asserted that the construction sector represents 17 percent of Egypt's economic growth, noting that real estate represents only 7 percent of the total growth rate.

Egypt has a diversified economy led by the industrial sector, which is headed by manufacturing, followed by the extractive, oil and gas sectors and then comes the construction sector, she added.

The minister said that Egypt aims to achieve an industrial boom that leads to increasing export rates, so production is the main engine of the economic growth.

Meanwhile, Saeed said in March that the construction sector helped in providing around 3.7 million jobs, representing 20 percent of total workers in the domestic market.

Saeed previously said that Egypt aims to provide about 750,000 job opportunities in 2018/2019 by developing the absorptive capacity of the labor market to gradually provide 870,000 opportunities in 2021/2022.

Egypt’s vision 2030 targets to have a new Egypt that possesses a competitive, balanced and diversified economy, dependent on innovation and knowledge, based on justice, social integrity and participation, characterized by a balanced and diversified ecological collaboration system, investing the ingenuity of place and humans to achieve sustainable development and to improve Egyptians' life quality.