The Code of Egyptian SOE’s “the Process” Ashraf Gamal

SOE’s Code Writing in Egypt Reasons 1. For the importance of SOE’s: - Labor force - Investments - Economic sectors affected by SOE’s 2. Minimizing restrictions that affect SOE’s ability to compete freely in the market 3. Improving the credibility of SOE’s 4. Setting the companies to deal with banks and to partner with the private sector 5. Facilitating the Asset Management Program 6. The OECD has issued guidelines in 2005

SOE’s Code Writing in Egypt The Start  The process started in Feb 2005  First step was to consult with the OECD guidelines issued in Jan 2005  Then the OECD guidelines were translated to Arabic & edited by experts Those two steps were Important to pave the way for the rest of the process

SOE’s Code Writing in Egypt  The Arabic translation was edited and modified by experts in SOE’s, CG & capital markets’ experts  The modified version was then reviewed by a committee of the 9 Chairmen of the 9 Holding Companies under MOI The objective was to make sure that the OECD Guidelines have been modified to suit Egyptian SOE’s

SOE’s Code Writing in Egypt  A committee of the heads and deputies of legal departments of the 9 HC’s reviewed the draft & suggested some changes  Ministry experts (taskforce), EIoD board of trustees, & the asset mgt committee reviewed the modified version At this stage, we were sure that our code had the content we thought Was acceptable & legal

SOE’s Code Writing in Egypt  Then the draft code was translated to English by a qualified translator  The English version was forwarded to CG experts from the IFC-WB-GCGF-OECD  Communications through s & telephones took places with the parties involved This ensured that the code matches Best practice in general

SOE’s Code Writing in Egypt  The final version in English was then translated back to Arabic  The Arabic version was then edited by linguistics experts This made sure that the code is phrased properly both in Arabic & English languages

SOE’s Code Writing in Egypt  The code was then launched in July 2006  It took almost 1.5 years to conclude the process, but it was sure worth it  A similar process will take place soon in order to update the code of listed companies issued in October 2005

SOE’s Code Writing in Egypt Lessons  Do not re-invent the wheel, start where others have ended  A national code should be in the national language for maximum involvement  The process of code development creates awareness in itself  Consultation with local & international experts considerably improves the final product  There might be variations from best practice due to local laws & regulations  Code development takes time

SOE’s Code Writing in Egypt Thank you