Post “Revolution” Egypt says open for business

For Egypt’s interim regime, casting the military ouster of the nation’s first freely elected president as a revolution rather than a coup has been a sustained priority both within its borders and to a skeptical international community.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in particular, has been at the forefront of this effort, putting on a full court diplomatic press to convince Western nations that Egypt is on a democratic path and not lurching back towards autocratic rule.

Now, Egypt’s economic caretakers are being drafted into service.

Starting early next month, the Minister of Industry and Trade will tour Europe and the United States to drum up support for the country with the message that “Egypt is open,” safe, secure and stable for business.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the minister, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, said little of the projects Egypt wishes to promote but spoke extensively of the need to “correct” perceptions he asserted are being driven by inaccurate coverage by foreign media.

“I have to explain what has happened,” he said. “I have to correct what has been sent through the media and to correct the existing wrong perception wherever I go.”

Mr. Abdel Nour will go to Paris, Berlin, Washington D.C., Brussels, London and Moscow understanding that “at this juncture, you cannot disassociate politics from trade and investing unless your trade partner or potential investor knows that you are on the right track towards establishing a safe, secure and stable system.”

It will be a tough sell. Since the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mohammed Morsi in July, security forces have imprisoned and charged him and thousands of his supporters with crimes as serious as espionage and mundane as blocking traffic during street protests. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s oldest and largest social services and political opposition group, was also designated a terrorist organization last month, exposing even sympathizers to stiff punishment under strident anti-terrorism laws.

More than 1,000 supporters of the deposed president have been killed by police while demonstrating against the coup while even non-Islamist critics of the regime have been thrown in jails for voicing dissent. Rights groups, the United Nations and some of the nations Mr. Abdel Nour plans to visit have been sharply critical of the regime’s moves, sounding alarms over the violence, political repression and dubious criminal charges.

The crackdown has also ensnared foreign journalists who have been accused of spreading false news about Egypt, underscoring the regime’s sensitivity to how it is perceived overseas.