Egypt is now the top reformer in the world, according to Doing Business 2008, the fifth in an annual series of publications issued by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC). It says that Egypt outpaced other reformers worldwide, and in the Middle East and North Africa, in making it easier to do business, showing improvements in five of the ten areas studied by the report. As a result, Egypt has seen foreign direct investment soar from just $2.1 billion in 2003 / 2004 to $11.1 billion in 2006 / 2007.

Egyptian reforms have gone deep, including a cut in the minimum capital required to start a business, from E£50,000 (£4,600) to just E£1,000 (£92) and a reduction in fees for registering property from 3 percent of the property value to a low, fixed amount. Equally significantly: “The bureaucracy that builders face in getting construction permits has been eased,” the IFC says.

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