AmCham Egypt held a Hybrid Monthly Luncheon on September 13th, 2020, with keynote speaker H.E. Yasmine Fouad Abdel Aziz, Minister of Environment to address the topic "Pursuing Green Growth through Partnership with the Private Sector: Creating an Enabling Environment for Investment”

When assessing economic sustainability, it's hard to deny that Egypt has a long way to go. In the latest UN Sustainable Development Index, which the United Nations has published every year since 2015 to assess progress toward its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Egypt ranked 83rd out of 166 nations. However, that is a marked improvement over 2019, when the ranking was 92nd out of 162 states. 

Regionally, Egypt lags somewhat, given the size, diversity and sophistication of its economy. It ranks seventh among the 20 Arab states and fourth among 47 African countries. However, Egypt is No. 1 among its regional peers when it comes to implementing SDGs. 

The state of the environment impacts how businesses operate and plan for the long term. "It impacts all of our lives," said Tarek Tawfik, AmCham Egypt president, at a September event featuring Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad. "Businesses are impacted by sustainable development and the environment, even when it comes to day-to-day operations and profitability."

Fouad highlighted government efforts to promote sustainable development as part of the "Go Green" presidential initiative. She spoke about projects, funding agreements, initiatives and laws designed to attract "green" investors. "The ministry's priority right now is to work with the rest of the government to create an enabling environment for green growth and investment," she said. "We plan to flatten the environmental [deterioration] curve via sustainable development."

For more on what the Minister said, please visit our business monthly article here.