Dr. Mohamed Farid:
- Rapid actions to enhance innovation and digitalization in trade and investment to support the financing and productive capacities of the Egyptian economy
- The government is achieving a legislative and regulatory breakthrough to place entrepreneurship at the heart of development and address economic challenges
- Regulatory sandboxes to test and support innovative ideas and connect startups to global supply and value chains
- Post-financing phase: integrating startups into the national economy and enhancing their market participation
- TradeTech as a key driver to boost export competitiveness and reduce trade costs
- Development of SupTech to enhance market efficiency and sustainable growth
- A more flexible environment for new market entrants and linking exporters to logistics ecosystems
- Integration of investment and trade policies to support employment and increase production
Dr. Mohamed Farid, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, participated via video conference in the fourth edition of the conference “Disruptech Sharm 2026 – Fintech and Beyond”, marking his first official engagement since assuming office. The event brought together 16 global, regional, and local investment funds, in addition to heads and representatives of Egyptian and regional investment banks.
The conference aims to explore investment opportunities in Egypt and review developments in the fintech sector, as well as the role of startups in supporting economic growth, in light of the Ministry’s central role in promoting investment, trade, production, and exports, in implementation of the directives of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The Minister affirmed that Egypt has witnessed significant progress in modernizing legislative and regulatory frameworks supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly through the Financial Regulatory Authority and the Central Bank of Egypt, contributing to the creation of a more flexible and competitive business environment. He also highlighted the substantial growth in the number of companies operating across various financing and investment activities, including consumer finance, microfinance, and trade finance through factoring.
Dr. Farid noted that the next phase requires moving beyond fintech, through the development of SupTech and TradeTech, in a manner that enhances market efficiency and competitiveness and strengthens their capacity to support investment and trade.
He further explained that TradeTech represents a key pillar in supporting both domestic and export-oriented trade, through improving data collection and analysis mechanisms, enhancing supply chain and logistics management, and connecting exporters and traders with service providers, thereby reducing costs and increasing the competitiveness of Egyptian products.
The Minister also highlighted the government’s integrated efforts, whether through regulatory frameworks issued by the Financial Regulatory Authority and the Central Bank of Egypt, or through recent decisions of the Ministerial Committee for Entrepreneurship, including the Startup Charter, reflecting a clear commitment to supporting the innovation ecosystem.
He revealed that the Ministry is studying the establishment of regulatory sandboxes, in cooperation with relevant entities such as the General Organization for Export and Import Control, to facilitate exporters’ operations, enhance investor confidence, and connect importers and exporters to logistics and commercial service ecosystems more efficiently, through testing and supporting innovative solutions aimed at advancing Egypt’s foreign trade system.
Dr. Farid emphasized that the digitalization of trade policies and programs is a key priority for the coming phase, with a focus on building accurate and integrated databases to support decision-making and enhance economic competitiveness.
He added that upcoming steps will aim to facilitate access to finance for startups that have moved beyond the ideation stage, in cooperation with investment funds, enabling them to scale and grow sustainably.
The Minister concluded by affirming his personal commitment to following up on the implementation of these initiatives and strengthening engagement with the business community and investors, in a manner that supports Egypt’s integration into regional and global value chains.
