Background

Shedding light on the best international experiences whose implementation leads to enhancing Egyptian competitiveness is one of the most important roles that the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council and BAC has played over the past years. This was evident in the fourth Egyptian Competitiveness Report, which discussed the concept of regulatory reform and its relationship to the level of competitiveness. This report was launched in 2007 under the title “Taking the Next Big Step”, and explained how the restrictive regulatory and legislative environment, which lacks inefficiency, negatively affects Egypt's competitiveness as it causes low productivity, limits the growth potential of existing projects, and the emergence of new ones.
The Business Advisory Council (BAC) is the cornerstone platform for public policy dialogue, through its secretariat (the ENCC), aimed at bringing together  state institutions, the private sector, and civil society in a framework of consultation and dialogue aimed at highlighting and identifying key policy challenges related to the regulatory and legislative environment, for prioritization by ERRADA,  that hinders domestic and international private sector institutions, society and the wider economy and impacts Egypt's competitiveness position.  

History

The Business Advisory Council was established in 2008, under the umbrella of the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council, as a mechanism to consult with the business community in Egypt to get acquainted with their opinions and proposals on the regulatory reform process in order to achieve efficiency during the implementation of the 'ERRADA' initiative. Since that date, the Business Advisory Council has worked hard to coordinate and build effective partnerships between state institutions, the private sector, and civil society within the framework of this initiative. The Egyptian National Competitiveness Council developed a framework through which the process of consultation with the business sector would take place, to identify the most important challenges related to the regulatory and legislative environment that hinder institutions operating in this sector, and to put forward proposals for how to overcome these challenges. The proposals of all relevant parties have been included in the initiative's final recommendations whenever possible.
Following the reinstatement of the 'ERRADA' initiative based on Prime Minister Decisions No. 998, 1652 and 1896 of 2019, there was a reorganization and reassertion that the central unit/entity would review and simplify procedures for the business climate reform initiative in Egypt (ERRADA), and members of the Central Unit’s Board of Trustees were reasserted, which was to include the Egyptian National Council for Competitiveness (ENCC). Furthermore, as part of this redefinition, the ENCC would reactivate the Business Advisory Council (BAC), to act as an effective public private policy dialogue mechanism that provides the necessary framework for consulting with the Egyptian private business sector, representing its views and communicating its proposals within the framework of the efficient implementation of the Egyptian initiative to reform the business climate in Egypt 'ERRADA', in addition to its contribution to reasserting and emphasizing the primary role of the private sector in supporting the state's reform efforts in all fields, especially with regard to setting policies, and providing an effective regulatory framework to achieve sustainable economic and social competitiveness, which would positively affect the standard of living of all Egyptian citizens, and contribute effectively to providing decent job opportunities for Egyptian youth.

Vision

Activating the role of the Egyptian private sector in advancing Egypt's competitive position by supporting the state’s efforts in the field of economic and organizational reform, which would contribute to improving the citizen’s standard of living, providing decent job opportunities for Egyptian youth, sustaining economic growth, and increasing competitiveness.

Strategic Objectives

1. Supporting the state’s efforts in the field of economic policy reform, and raising the efficiency of the regulatory framework through holding consultative sessions with all concerned parties with the aim of promoting evidence-based reforms aimed at raising the state’s competitiveness.
2. Activating the role of the Egyptian private sector in the efficient implementation of the ERRADA initiative, through coordination between institutions and individuals that are members of the Council, and representatives of the ERRADA initiative, with the aim of setting up an effective mechanism for receiving the results of review and evaluation by business enterprises.
3. Providing a forum for dialogue between the public and private sectors, to identify the obstacles that hinder the effective implementation of the Egyptian efforts for organizational reform, and to submit suggestions from the national private sector on how to face these obstacles.
4. Collecting the reviews and evaluations from the member institutions of the Business Advisory Council on the existing stock of Egyptian laws and regulations and submitting them to the Board of Trustees of the Central Unit for the ERRADA Initiative to take steps regarding it.
5. Coordination with the private business sector regarding the process of issuing new laws and regulations by applying the regulatory principles to assess the impact of legislation (Regulatory Impact Assessment: RIA).
6. Improve links with all major stakeholders and enhance multi-stakeholder engagement with partners, the government and interested parties.
7. Community awareness of the efforts of the Egyptian state aimed at strengthening the national economy and raising the rates of growth and employment, in particular establishing a community dialogue on the efforts of regulatory and legislative reform and policy reform.
8. Exchanging knowledge, ideas and experiences among member institutions and individuals to identify best practices in enhancing competitiveness through organizational reform and policy reform.

Institutional Structure and Council Membership

1. The Business Advisory Council consists of the institutions that meet the conditions mentioned in the sixth item.
2. Representatives of institutions on the advisory board:
a)    Each institution determines the person who will represent it in the council meetings, provided that he is the same person throughout the term of the council for the sake of good business continuity.
b)    The person nominated to represent the Foundation must be a member of its Board of Directors or its CEO.
c)    The Foundation may nominate a reserve person to attend the meetings in the absence of its original representative.
d)    A natural person may represent more than one institution in the council membership.
3. The Business Advisory Council shall have an executive office of 9 members entrusted with studying issues and facilitating work for presentation to the council.
4. Transitional referee: The first meeting of the Business Advisory Council is chaired by the oldest member, and at this meeting:
a)    Selection of the Chairman of the Business Advisory Board who will chair the Executive Office.
b)    Selecting the Vice Chairman of the Business Advisory Council, who replaces the Chairman of the Board in case of his absence.
c)    Selection of members of the executive office.
d)    These choices are made by consensus of the members and not necessarily by nomination or election.
5. The term of membership of the Business Advisory Council and its Executive Office shall be two years from the date of commencement of work.
6. The selection process for the new Chairman of the Business Advisory Council and the Deputy Chair should take place 6 months before the term of the current Board expires.
7. The same president may not be elected for two consecutive terms.
8. The Egyptian National Competitiveness Council sends the results of the application of members ’criteria (Article VI) before holding the presidential elections, that is, 6 months before the end of the council’s term.
9. The former president and current president are invited to the business advisory board and executive office meetings for good business continuity.
10. The Executive Office may include to its membership 2 professors from Egyptian universities or those with experience in the field and 2 representatives of research centres according to the criteria mentioned in Clause Seven.
11. The Council may establish specialized committees or advisory groups, as needed, provided that the duration of the work of these committees or groups is for specific periods of time to review and discuss various issues, conduct the necessary consultations, and work on policy support efforts. The Egyptian National Competitiveness Council provides technical support to these committees (Acts as Secretariat).

Work Process

1. The National Competitiveness Council acts as the Secretariat and coordinator to the Business Advisory Council, and provides technical and organizational support for its activities.
2. Meetings of the Executive Office are held at least 6 times a year at the invitation of its Chairman.
3. The Executive Office, in coordination with the ERRADA initiative, after consulting with the Business Advisory Council, selects and identifies issues that reflect the role of the business community in addressing the important policies in Egypt that support comprehensive sustainable growth and competitiveness.
4. The Chairman of the Council invites the Business Advisory Council at least twice a year to present the business agenda and what has been done through the various committees.
5. Members of the Executive Office/Secretariat  mobilize the efforts of the national private business sector as a major player in supporting policies to enhance competitiveness.
6. ENCC's work in accordance with the Policy Advocacy approach is done through:
• Direct participation with the concerned parties.
• Work through the formation of working teams dedicated to studying a specific topic.
• Hosting events such as conferences, workshops and round tables.
• Ensuring that relevant speakers, experts and representative participants are selected on the Business Advisory Council and assume the role of discussants and commentators in events where possible.
• Commissioning studies and papers that reinforce the position of the Business Advisory Council on key issues related to its work.

BAC Members:

1-    DR. Sherif Kamel
2-    Eng. Ibrahim El Araby
3-    Eng. Mohamed Sabry
4-    Mr. Ahmed El Wassief
5-    Mr. Emad Ghaly
6-    Eng. Sherif El Gabaly
7-    Eng. Mohamed El Sewedy
8-    Eng. Ali Eissa
9-    Eng. Moataz Raslan
10-    Dr. Fayez Ezeidin
11-    Eng. Khaled Nosser
12-    Mr. Abdel Hamid Abu Mousa
13-    Eng. Gamal El Sadat
14-    Eng. Ahmed El Sewedy
15-    Mr. Soliman El Wazan
16-    Mr. Mahmoud El Kessy
17-    Eng. Mohamed Moselhy
18-    Mr. Ahmed Ossman