In a meeting with Swiss Ambassador to Egypt Dominique Verger, Egyptian Finance Minister, Dr. Samir Radwan, asked the Swiss government to drop Egyptian debts to Switzerland or due interests thereof in order to use the outcome in financing economic development projects in Egypt. The minister reviewed the development passage project, one of the most important national projects in the country, which can create a specific leap for the Egyptian economy, creating new job opportunities and several investments.

The Egyptian minister asserts that the government continues its economic reforms, efforts which have been going on since 2004. The government focuses currently on overcoming the adverse economic impacts of the recent events, taking 16 emergency measures, including compensations for harmed parties and citizens who lost their jobs.

In addition, measures have been taken to allow for paying income taxes through instalments, and cancelling fines on delayed payments of social security subscriptions and sales tax for January and February, together with other measures aiming at bringing about a restoration of the rapid economic growth and creating job opportunities.

The minister explained to the Swiss party the possibility of implementing the pioneering Swiss experience of establishing cooperative institutions with huge frameworks of financing production, distribution and trade aiming at producing goods and services of high quality at low cost.

The Swiss ambassador, in his turn, asserted the support of the Swiss government for Egypt and its efforts to restore stability to the Egyptian economy.

Egypt can make use of the Swiss experience in the field of retail shops which work under the system of cooperatives especially in the trade of clothes and alimentary commodities, the most important field serving a large sector of the low-income brackets of the citizens. Of possible use as well is the expertise of the Swiss companies in the field of safe recycling of waste, especially in the case of hospitals, projects which also create several job opportunities.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)