Qandil: Egypt should have a 'knowledge-based economy'

Prime Minister Hesham Qandil said Wednesday that the government’s top priorities are security and economic and job growth. He added that with the help of foreign investors and companies, Egypt can turn its unemployment problem into a highly skilled workforce.

“We want to see Egypt adopt a knowledge-based economy,” he told a crowd of petroleum industry professionals and delegates at a conference hosted by Petroleum Economist, a UK-based publication, in partnership with the Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company.

Also present at the conference, Minister of Petroleum Osama Kamal said that the ministry’s goals for the coming years are to develop local oil and gas resources to meet local demand, and to find the most efficient ways to use petroleum resources.

He said using local oil and gas to produce petrochemicals would afford the country greater profits than the direct sale of the commodities abroad.

“Petrochemicals are our gateway to catching the train of national development,” Kamal said.