#EgyptBetterToday campaign highlights Egypt's achievements since 2011

As part of its Facebook campaign #EgyptBetterToday, the Foreign Ministry on Sunday posted a number of achievements seen since 2011.

The campaign was launched to mark the 5th anniversary of January 25 Revolution.

The achievements posted by the ministry earlier in the day highlighted success in promotion of a culture of diversity and the path towards social justice and economic reform.

Though significant challenges currently face both the Egyptian economy and the world economy as a whole, Egypt has taken steps in recent years to tackle the root of its economic maladies and ensure that there is greater equity in wealth distribution and opportunities, the ministry said.

Perhaps the central demand of Egyptians in January 2011 was a better livelihood for all, and this has been reflected in the steps taken to overhaul the Egyptian economy over the past few years. Today we highlight five economic policies and endeavors that strive to bring Egypt’s economy in line with the vision of its people, it added.

The ministry's Facebook page asserted that, during the last five years, the Egyptian government started giving increasing attention to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

"The State realized that supporting such projects is of vital importance to the national economy as they have a clear impact that directly affects citizens and their economic activities, which in turn boosts job opportunities and employment - primary demands of the January revolution," it said.

The ministry added "on the public sector front, one of the primary achievements of the January revolution came with the transformation of thousands of temporary contracts of public sector workers into permanent ones. This improved these workers' economic and living conditions after they had previously been unstable."

Stressing that the successive governments tried hardly to introduce reforms, the ministry said that a five-year plan to reform the structure of energy subsidies was unveiled by Egypt in 2014.

The plan was meant to reduce the budget deficit, while ensuring that energy subsidies benefit those who need them most.

The 2014/15 national budget cut spending on energy subsidies by almost a third ($6 billion) in order to move Egypt towards more efficient and responsible government spending which focuses expenditure on capital investment, public services.

Reflecting this shift, the budgetary allocation in FY 2014/15 for health and education exceeded energy subsidies for the first time in many years. The subsidy reform plan will also allow Egypt to shift incentives from capital-intensive economic activity toward more labor-intensive activity, the ministry posted.

As for social justice, the ministry asserted that governments sought to reform the minimum wage, as well as impose a maximum wage for public sector employees.

It said the move is an important tool to address income and wealth inequality, promote social justice and strengthen the middle class.

"Following the revolution, Egypt’s National Wage Council (NWC) consulted with foreign and Egyptian experts to establish minimum and maximum wage rates that would achieve the demands of the revolution, while simultaneously maintaining competitiveness and attracting the necessary skills. As a result, the government adopted two unprecedented measures. First, it increased the minimum wage rate threefold from EGP 400 ($52) per month before the revolution, to EGP 1200 ($157) per month. This new minimum wage has benefited 4.9 million out of Egypt’s 7 million public sector employees," the ministry said.

Simultaneously, in 2014 two successive decrees by the President and the Cabinet set the maximum wage rate at EGP 42,000 ($5,500) per month for all public sector employees, it noted.

The campaign also touched on the mega projects implemented and planned in the last five years.

Starting with the New Suez Canal Project, the ministry said that Egyptians succeeded in one year in completing the initial step for developing the Suez Canal region, through the drilling of a new channel with a length of 35 kilometers, with the deepening and expansion of the original canal areas up to 72 kilometers, as well as updating and adding advanced equipment in all sectors of the canal.

Other mega projects were highlighted by the ministry, namely the Suez Canal Axis Development Project, the North West Coast Development Project, the Nuclear Project in Dabaa’, the project for the agriculture of one and a half million acres, the discovery of the largest natural gas field ‘Zohr’ and the planned new administrative capital.

Source: MENA