Dr. Mohamed Farid:
Rapid action to accelerate innovation and digitalization in trade and investment to strengthen the Egyptian economy’s financing and productive capacities.
The government is delivering a major legislative and regulatory leap to place entrepreneurship at the heart of development and address economic challenges.
Launching regulatory sandboxes to test and support innovative ideas and connect startups to global supply and value chains.
Beyond funding: integrating startups into the national economy and enhancing their participation in markets.
TradeTech represents a key pillar for boosting export competitiveness and reducing trade costs.
Developing SupTech to enhance market efficiency and support sustainable growth.
Creating a more flexible environment for new market entrants and linking exporters with integrated logistics services.
Integrating 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 “Disruptech Sharm 2026 – Fintech and Beyond,” marking his first official engagement since assuming office. The conference brought together 16 global, regional, and local investment funds, alongside leaders and representatives of Egyptian and regional investment banks.
The conference aims to explore investment opportunities in Egypt and highlight developments in the fintech sector, as well as the role of startups in driving economic growth—within the framework of the Ministry’s pivotal role in boosting investment, trade, production, and exports, in line with the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The Minister emphasized that Egypt has witnessed a significant leap in updating legislative and regulatory frameworks supporting innovation and entrepreneurship—particularly through the Financial Regulatory Authority and the Central Bank of Egypt—contributing to a more flexible and competitive ecosystem. He pointed to the rapid growth in companies operating across various financing and investment activities, including consumer finance, microfinance, and trade finance through factoring.
He noted that the next phase requires moving “beyond fintech” by advancing SupTech and TradeTech, enhancing market efficiency and competitiveness, and strengthening their capacity to support investment and trade.
Dr. Farid highlighted TradeTech as a core driver of domestic and export trade, through improved data collection and analytics, stronger supply-chain and logistics management, and better connectivity between exporters, traders, and service providers—helping reduce costs and raise the competitiveness of Egyptian products.
He also underscored the government’s integrated efforts, including regulatory frameworks issued by the Financial Regulatory Authority and the Central Bank of Egypt, as well as recent decisions by the Ministerial Committee for Entrepreneurship—most notably the Startup Charter—reflecting a clear commitment to fostering innovation.
The Minister revealed plans to establish regulatory sandboxes within the Ministry, in coordination with relevant entities such as the General Organization for Export and Import Control, to facilitate exporters’ operations, enhance investor confidence, and more efficiently link importers and exporters to logistics and trade services—by piloting innovative solutions to upgrade Egypt’s foreign trade ecosystem.
He affirmed that digitalizing trade policies and programs is a top priority in the coming phase, with a focus on building accurate, integrated databases to support decision-making and strengthen economic competitiveness.
Dr. Farid added that upcoming steps will focus on facilitating financing for startups that have moved beyond the idea stage, in cooperation with investment funds, enabling them to scale and grow sustainably.
He concluded by stressing his personal commitment to overseeing the implementation of these initiatives and strengthening engagement with the business and investor community—supporting Egypt’s deeper integration into regional and global value chains.
