CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 01/2016

LE MONDE EGYPT | INTERVIEW
LE MONDE EXPERT´S VIEW
Ambassador Khaled Shamaa and
”Cercle Diplomatique“ author
Rainer Himmelfreundpointner.
Martin Woller
Head of Advantage Austria in Cairo and Commercial Counsellor for Egypt, Libya and Sudan
“Egypt‘s security measures have been enhanced drastically.“
the vocational training and human resources
development. In the coming period we
are seeking to enhance our cooperation
with the various vocational training institutes
in Austria.
Egypt is one of the major tourist destinations for
Austrians as well. But more and more people are
getting anxious about the security situation there.
How is Egypt facing this problem?
If you are talking about the recent incident
in Hurghada at the Red Sea, let me
point out that it was not a terrorist attack
but a criminal one. It was a fight, no gunfire,
between two persons with another individual
in the restaurant of a hotel. Unfortunately
two Austrians have been hurt, but
they decided to continue their trip.
We are now getting into a more stable
period. What we have done quite extensively
is to look into any possible gaps in security
measures that have already been implemented.
One of the main examples of
how that has been done efficiently is the
very quick response by the security forces
at the latest incident in Hurghada. That in
itself gives you an indication of the type of
readiness which is now in place.
Airport security measures have been
also enhanced through various measures,
not only in Sharm el Sheikh but in Cairo,
and in Hurghada and many other airports
in Egypt.
Tourism accounts for more than 10 percent of
Egypt‘s GDP and...
...has been impacted by the security issue.
That is why we are working so hard on
this matter. We do want the tourists to be
coming to Egypt, at the same time we want
them to feel safe. That is why for instance in
places like Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada
all safety and security measures had been
taken to ensure that.
So it is not only about the tourists coming
to Egypt, it is about them having a
good time there. For example, most of the
Austrians coming to Egypt are return-tourists.
They know the place very well, they
know what they want. They go to the same
hotel back again and again. Sometimes
they even know the room they want to stay
in. Egypt has become a second home for
them, or a holiday home. This is what we
encourage and welcome very much.
How is Egypt reacting to the threat of the Islamic
State, which claimed responsibility of bombing a
Russian tourist plane last year with more than
200 victims?
With regard to this tragedy, we are in
contact with the Russian authorities. In
terms of combating terrorism, first of all
there are all the security measures previously
mentioned. Then we have to prevent
the flow of supplies to terrorist groups
(such as ISIS or „Daesh“ and other groups).
And finally we have to confront them and
their ideologies, which have nothing to do
with religion by the way.
So we joined the coalition against Daesh
in Iraq and Syria, and we have been working
against the presence of terrorist
groups in Libya. We also are successfully
combating terrorism in Egypt. One very
important thing is: The moment you start
giving in to the wins of the terrorists, and
to appease them, life would cease. And that
would be the biggest victory for them.
Recent events have proven that terrorism
is not an exclusive threat to the Middle
East. Europe as well as the rest of the
world are within its reach now.
Therefore we should stand all together
against terrorism. And life should carry on
as usual; people will still go to their jobs,
children to schools. That would be, in my
opinion, the most effective tool to confront
and to defeat terrorism.
FOTOS: PHOTOS: XYXXYXYXY
RALPH MANFREDA
PHOTO: FRANK HELMRICH
Egypt, with 90 million people the most populated country in the Middle East, has
all the potentials to master its economic challenges. But it will be no smoot sailing.
We live in challenging and exciting times in
Egypt. Politically the last few years have
seen multiple major shifts and only recently
the situation has moved towards stabilisation
with the election of President Abdelfatah El Sisi as
well as a new Parliament. A volatile security situation
that is often hyped in the media, generating a strong
presence in the media for all the wrong reasons.
Egypt, with 90 million people the most populated
country in the Middle East, has recorded a huge population
growth in 2015 of about 2-3 million people
within that year. Approximately 69 percent of Egyptians
are under 35 years of age, leading to big demographic
challenges and a large demand in the areas of
education, jobs and infrastructure.
However, a strong economic performance is expected
to offset these challenges. As such under the
leadership of President Abdelfatah El Sisi many initiatives
have been (re)ignited in order to increase the
GDP growth rates from meagre 2.2 percent per annum
in 2014 to at least 5 percent in the short and
above 6 percent in the medium term. The estimated
growth rate for 2015 at around 4 percent falls short of
expectations as a drop in tourism revenues and foreign
investments (especially) towards the end of the
year was recorded.
Tourism revenues, foreign investments paired
with remittances and the revenues from the Suez Canal
are the main sources of hard currency for Egypt.
The lower than expected numbers in these sectors,
including a massive trade deficit has decreased foreign
reserves and put pressure on the Egyptian
pound. By refusing to devaluate the pound the Presidency,
the Government and the Central Bank are
trying to limit (predominantly low quality) imports,
upgrade the industry, increase export earnings and
cut spending.
There will most probably be no smooth sailing in
overall economic terms in the near future as the yet
to be solved security situation and the re-starting of
the economy will involve a large effort and take time.
However, Egypt has all the pre-conditions and potential
to have a strong and dynamic economy: A
young dynamic population, a historical outstanding
geographical location, linking regions and continents
and a diversified economic basis to build on.
On this foundation, new and resumed mega projects
(the new Suez Canal Industrial Zone, the Million
Feddan Agricultural Project, the building of the
new Administrative Capital, the Golden Triangle
and the Northwest Coast Development Project)
should kick-start the Egyptian economy and lead to
the envisioned growth rates and political and social
stabilisation.
Not to be forgotten is the role of the military in
the economy. Traditionally, the military is tightly interwoven
with almost all Egyptian institutions and
industries (e.g. all kinds of infrastructure activities,
bottling of water, production of and according to
some estimates is responsible for up to 40 percent of
GDP. Due to regulations on secrecy no official or
confirmed data exists.
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Martin Woller
serves as Austria‘s
Commercial Counsellor
in Cairo, covering Egypt,
Libya and Sudan.
“Egypt’s industrial
mega projects
will open new
opportunities
for the Egyptian-
Austrian business
relations.“
The medical fields of expertise also
include: pedicatric cardiology, pulmonology,
neurology, gastroenterology,
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36 Cercle Diplomatique 1/2016
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