The investment climate in Egypt: Institutions or Relationships as Conditions for Sustainable Reform?

Observations made here show that it is possible to improve the investment climate, achieve effective cooperation between private investors and political decision-makers, fight against corruption and make effective progress without waiting for radical institutional reform. In fact, improvements to the investment climate in Egypt are due to the novel combination of “clear rules” and “flexibility” to meet the needs of investors as they arise. In this case, the ability to “adjust the rules” to meet specific problems faced by investors improves the investment climate, rather than introducing undesirable uncertainty. In this way, the authors demonstrate that improving trust between private investors and public authorities is certainly a question of reforming institutions.