The constitution also guarantees adequate representation for youth, as Article necessitates the state to ensure that youth are appropriately represented in parliament, while Article states that one quarter of the seats in local councils shall be allocated to youth under thirty five 35 years of age.
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.
Perhaps the central demand of Egyptians in January 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. Egypt started giving increased attention to supporting small and medium enterprises SMEs after the January 25 Revolution.
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 25 January revolution.
In response to the demands of the revolution to support such projects that generate employment, the banking sector in Egypt has pledged to inject EGP billion over the coming years to support youth projects to reduce unemployment.
This should enhance the competitiveness of such projects and help them integrate more smoothly into the labor market.
On the public sector front, one of the primary achievements of the January revolution came with the transformation of thousands of public sector worker temporary contracts into permanent ones. Aiming to reduce the budget deficit, while ensuring that energy subsidies benefit those who need them most, a five-year plan to reform the structure of energy subsidies was unveiled by Egypt in , with the aim of gradually phasing out all energy subsidies except for those in fuel products and electricity consumed by the poor, incorporating a system of smart cards.
The subsidy reform plan will also allow Egypt to shifts incentives from capital-intensive economic activity toward more labor-intensive activity. Since the 25 January Revolution, Egypt has sought to reform the minimum wage, as well as impose a maximum wage for public sector employees, an important tool to address income and wealth inequality, promote social justice and strengthen the middle class. As a result, the government adopted two unprecedented measures.
This new minimum wage has benefited 4. This cap is equivalent to 35 times the minimum wage and has saved the government much-needed resources, which are now used to finance the new minimum wage.
In addition to addressing social justice concerns and providing a decent life to all public sector employees, these two measures are intended to eradicate financial and administrative corruption, a major demand of the 25 January revolution. They therefore signal an important break with the past. 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.
The project reduces the waiting time for ships to be 3 hours instead of 8 to 11 hours, which reduces the cost for ship owners, as well as raising the value of the Suez Canal, contributing to the increased demand for the use of the canal as a major international waterway.
This project will play a major role in the re-urbanization and the geographic distribution of the population through integrated urban projects aimed at reclamation and cultivation of about 4 million acres.
The project coincides with the plan implemented by the government to demarcate the future borders of governorates, involving development and investment opportunities and the establishment of new urban communities to accommodate the expected population growth in the coming decades. This project is part of a government scheme for urban development that includes a series of national projects that are expected to generate about 11 million jobs until the year The project includes the establishment of four nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes expected to produce 4, GB, two of which will be opened after 9 years, while the third and fourth reactors will be opened in the tenth year and the eleventh.
The announcement of the discovery of the largest gas field off the Egyptian coast of the eastern Mediterranean has assured confidence in the Egyptian economy, as well as the enthusiasm of foreign partners to invest in Egypt, in addition to reshaping the energy map in Egypt. Zohr also opens up new horizons for further discoveries. The field is the largest since the discovery of gas in Egypt back in , comprising an area of square kilometers, and a depth of meters, with 30 trillion cubic feet equivalent to 5.
The basic plan is the establishment of a global city with a smart infrastructure for the future of Egypt, as this city will provide a multiplicity of economic opportunities as well as a distinctive quality of life. Combating corruption was an important demand of the revolution of January the 25th, and subsequently a national strategy to combat corruption was devised, with the aim of elevating the state administrative body and preserve public funds. The strategy enshrines a number of concepts, chief among them indiscriminate accountability.
Egypt also took practical steps to combat corruption, investigating and prosecuting all individuals who were implicated in acts of corruption, including high-ranking officials from previous regimes, and even the former Minister of Agriculture, who was prosecuted while he was in office in a corruption case. You are commenting using your WordPress.
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Notify me of new posts via email. A Political Rights and Participation During the past five years, Egypt has witnessed unprecedented participation in the political sphere by the Egyptian public, after they reclaimed their right to shape their own destiny in the wake of the revolution of January the 25th.
Figure 7 Measures to empower youth since 25 January 16th Achievement: Youth representation in state institutions Among the major factors that prompted Egyptian youth to take to the streets in January was the feeling of exclusion from the political process. Figure 8 Measures to promote social justice in post-revolutionary Egypt 23rd Achievement: Adopting a Minimum and Maximum Wage Since the 25 January Revolution, Egypt has sought to reform the minimum wage, as well as impose a maximum wage for public sector employees, an important tool to address income and wealth inequality, promote social justice and strengthen the middle class.
The New Suez Canal Project: 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.
The North West Coast Development Project: The project coincides with the plan implemented by the government to demarcate the future borders of governorates, involving development and investment opportunities and the establishment of new urban communities to accommodate the expected population growth in the coming decades.
The new administrative capital: The basic plan is the establishment of a global city with a smart infrastructure for the future of Egypt, as this city will provide a multiplicity of economic opportunities as well as a distinctive quality of life. Figure 9 Grand National Projects since 25 January 25th Achievement: Combating Corruption Combating corruption was an important demand of the revolution of January the 25th, and subsequently a national strategy to combat corruption was devised, with the aim of elevating the state administrative body and preserve public funds.
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Name required. Necessary changes that should have happened years ago are finally happening. The IMF foresees a series of improvements in the coming years.
The total investments as a percentage of GDP are likely to increase from Inflation is likely to decrease from Unemployment rates are likely to decrease from All these metrics are positive forecasts for the future of Egypt. However, the question that remains is will these macro improvements enrich the lives of Egyptians?
Will wage inflation be able to catch up with the price inflation anytime soon? For that, only time will tell. The Egyptian Devaluation — One Year Later Over one year ago, on November 3 rd , , the Central Bank of Egypt floated the Egyptian pound in an attempt to stabilize the economy which had been set back by a shortage of foreign currency inflows and political instability.
Sources of Foreign Currency to Egypt in and In , the Egyptian economy, still recovering from the world financial crisis, was also hit by political instability that also contributed to the decrease of foreign currencies inflows [1]. Remittances Lower oil prices and the fall in economic growth in the Gulf also indirectly had a negative impact on the Egyptian economy since many companies were laying off employees, of which many were Egyptians.
Tourism The tourism sector, a major source of foreign currencies before the revolution, was severely hit after a sequence of terrorist attacks in Egypt. Foreign Direct Investments Before the floatation decision on November , the government tried several economic reforms which proved to have temporary effects because they did not tackle the main problems but rather reduced the severity of their effects. Central Bank of Egypt Interest Rates — The government also began to restructure its subsidy program.
Related Articles. Nov 24 Economics. The legalization of Cannabis in Morocco. Bitcoin: Modern-Day Gold. Fast Fashion in Africa. The Egyptian people discovered, however, that in the absence of internal democracy, it was impossible to preserve the gains of the previous revolutions. The January 25 Revolution therefore affirmed the centrality of democracy to the Egyptian national movement, not just as a utopian goal—one whose practical implementation would be indefinitely deferred—but rather as the foundation for a modern, independent, and prosperous Egypt.
The spread of corruption and torture represented the grossest and most palpable failures of the regime to live up to the aspirations of the Egyptian state: Egyptian law prohibited both financial corruption [1] and torture, [2] yet Mubarak used his powers under the Constitution of to subvert the enforcement of Egyptian law in order to benefit himself, his family, and their allies.
It is not surprising, then, that eliminating torture and public corruption were issues that galvanized Egyptians during the January 25 Revolution. With the resignation of Mubarak on February 11, , Egyptians have now turned their attention to how the Egyptian state can recover public property from the possession of corrupt officials of the ancien regime.
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