By Xinhua
Cairo : In the year of 2007, Egypt keeps on its reform process in various sectors related to political and economic development amid the government’s efforts to help promote social justice in the populous Arab and northern African country.
Although the Egyptian economy witnessed an increase of seven percent in 2007, price hikes of daily commodities and increasing pressure of living cost among people of limited incomes resulted in strikes and sit-ins.
In early December, the Egyptian government, despite the financial burden, reiterated its commitment not to cancel its subsidy system.
According to a report by the official MENA news agency on Dec. 6, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazef promised in an interview that the government is keen on maintaining its subsidies.
In order to guarantee the subsidies to reach the neediest, Nazef vows to hammer out new mechanisms for the long-time system, which has swallowed a large part of the state budget and sparked widespread debate.
Poverty indicators in Egypt, which reached 20 percent over 10 years till 2005, showed a drop due to improvement in the economic performance and an increase in national income, Nazef was quoted as saying, stressing the government’s care for better social services through the principle of social justice.
In the political front, Egypt witnessed major amendments of its constitution in March, 2007, to create a more suitable environment for its economic reforms and social stability.
On March 26, Egypt held its national referendum on constitutional amendments, opening doors to the first major change in the constitution since 1971.
The amendments involve many political spheres, including bans on formation of political parties based on “any religious reference or basis.”
Major changes also include an anti-terrorism clause, designed to replace the existing emergency law in place since 1981. The new clause gives Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak the right to refer “terrorism criminals” to any court.
Following the national referendum, Mubarak pointed out that the constitutional changes are coming to develop the country’s constitutional structure in a way to support its ambitious economic, political and social reforms.
The Egyptian government always terms economic and social reforms as its top priorities in a bid to promote economic performance and standard of living in the populous Arab country.
On the one hand, the government led by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) reiterates on various occasions its determination to carry out economic reforms and launch programs for those who only have limited incomes.
During the ninth NDP General Conference, Mubarak gave a speech at the opening session on Nov. 3 shortly after being reelected chairman of the ruling party, stressing that his party will deal with issues of employment and investment, services and social justice.
The NDP aims to improve the standard of the services the government offers to citizens, such as education, healthcare, housing and transport, Mubarak asserted, noting the substantial progress achieved in the sectors of economic reforms and investment.
According to statistics, the amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Egypt reached a record high at 11.1 billion U.S. dollars during the fiscal year of 2006-2007 (from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007), ranking first in Africa and second in the Middle East region.
On the other hand, the government promised programs on promoting social justice in order to narrow the income gap among different social ranks.
At the closing session of the NDP General Conference on Nov. 6,Mubarak urged the government and the party to do their utmost to lure more investments to generate more jobs.
Mubarak highlighted efforts to improve life of the low-income brackets, expand the social security network within three years todouble the covered families from 1 million by the end of 2007, as well as efforts to draw up a new version of the country’s subsidy policy so as to reduce government burdens.
He also discussed efforts to develop the healthcare and education system, as well as challenges posed by overpopulation.
Despite the challenges on the road of reform, the Egyptian government looks determined to advance its social and economic reforms.