Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly affirmed that empowering the private sector remains one of the State’s top priorities and a key pillar of its development agenda.
He said the State Ownership Policy Document is a pivotal step to expand private-sector participation in the economy and foster a more attractive investment environment.
This came as the premier chaired, on Monday, October 27, 2025, a meeting of the Supreme Committee for the State Ownership Policy Document.The meeting reviewed third-year implementation progress and discussed the proposed vision for the document’s updated version.
Madbouly stressed that, three years after the document’s launch, the State is keen to reassess its targets and priorities in light of the evolving economic and geopolitical environment in the region.He said that this aims to maintain efforts to strengthen the private sector’s role as a key partner in sustainable economic growth and job creation.
It also targets boosting the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy regionally and internationally, he added.During the meeting, Osama al-Gohary, Assistant to the Prime Minister and Head of the Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), delivered a brief presentation on the implementation of the State Ownership Policy Document.
He highlighted that implementation efforts are anchored in three main pillars: the IPOs (State Offerings) Program, strengthening competitive neutrality, and governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Gohary reviewed the follow-up and evaluation mechanisms for implementation, as well as key future steps and major features of the document’s forthcoming revision.The presentation covered the IPOs Program, outlining progress across the four phases of implementation from March 2022 to June 2025.
It included the latest updates on the offering of targeted companies previously announced, along with the actions taken and ongoing preparations to ready a number of companies for offering in the coming phase.
The meeting also discussed key executive measures to strengthen competitive neutrality to improve the business environment and ensure a level playing field for all economic entities.These include the launch of the Egyptian Competition Authority’s Strategy (2021–2025), the amendment of the Competition Protection and Anti-Monopoly Practices Law No. 3 of 2005, and the approval of Law No. 195 of 2023 abolishing preferential treatment for state-owned entities.
These efforts have positively contributed to enhancing the perception of Egypt’s competitive environment internationally and earned broad recognition from global institutions.
Egypt won the first prize for “Enhancing Competition Policies” for 2023 from the World Bank and the International Competition Network.
The Voluntary Peer Review Report on Egypt’s Competition Law and Policy, issued in December 2024, also included multiple commendations of Egypt’s progress in this field.Gohary noted that the State has made significant strides in SOE governance, including Parliament’s final approval last June of the law establishing a Central Unit for the Listing, Oversight and Regulation of State-Owned Enterprises.Work is currently underway to activate the Central Unit, one of three entities responsible for managing SOE-related efforts, alongside The Sovereign Fund of Egypt and the Offerings Unit.
He also highlighted the ongoing restructuring of economic authorities, a core component of SOE governance.
The process is being carried out in two phases: the first involved assessing the status of each authority to determine its future positioning, while the second will include detailed restructuring based on the assessment outcomes to enhance their efficiency and contribution to GDP.The meeting also reviewed IDSC’s monitoring mechanisms, including a digital dashboard that tracks implementation progress.The dashboard measures performance under the IPOs Program, private-sector participation in investment, output, employment and exports, as well as competition and competitive neutrality indicators.
These indicators are automatically updated through the Center’s knowledge-management system.Gohary also presented the State Ownership Policy Document Performance Index, calculated as a weighted average of three sub-indices: implementation, business-environment progress, and economic impact.He noted that periodic follow-up reports are issued, most recently the third review report in August.
The updated version comes in response to the need to double private-sector participation in economic activity to boost its contribution to output, employment, investment and exports.It also reflects a shift in the State’s approach to the IPOs Program from asset sales toward asset investment through strategic partnerships with the private sector, with the aim of enhancing asset value and returns.
The meeting concluded with a review of future steps to revise the document’s targets, with a focus on regulating the State’s role in the economy.
Key priorities include limiting the creation of new SOEs, ensuring clear separation between the State’s roles as owner, regulator and policymaker, and strengthening the independence, quality and diversity of SOE boards.It also includes developing a clear policy for dividend distribution to enhance the efficiency of public-asset management.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat; Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Essmat, Minister of Local Development and Acting Minister of Environment Manal Awad, Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Sherif al-Sherbiny, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Alaa Eldin Farouq; and Minister of Public Business Sector Mohamed Shimi.Also present were Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan al-Khatib; Deputy Minister of Finance for Financial Policies Yasser Sobhi, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones Hossam Heiba, Chairman of the Egyptian Competition Authority Mahmoud Momtaz; Acting CEO of The Sovereign Fund of Egypt Noha Khalil, Assistant Minister of Transport for Authorities and Companies Ashraf al-Lowzi, as well as senior officials from relevant ministries and entities.
