Kerry tells business leaders to promote reforms needed for IMF aid, SHOTLIST
1. United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, arriving at meeting with business leaders and shaking hands with businessmen
2. Close of US flag
3. Kerry sitting down, preparing to speak
4. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kerry, United States Secretary of State:
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
“It is paramount, essential, urgent, that the Egyptian economy gets stronger, that it gets back on its feet and it’s very clear that there’s a circle of connections in how that can happen. To attract capital, to bring money back here that will invest, to give business the confidence to be able to move forward, there has to be a sense of security. And there has to be a sense of economic and political viability.”
7. Close of Egyptian flag
8. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kerry, United States Secretary of State:
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
“But it’s clear to us that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) arrangement needs to be reached, and we need to give the marketplace the confidence, and that that very capable and entrepreneurial Egyptian diaspora that is currently in many parts of the world with its capital, needs to feel comfortable that it could come back here and that there’s a viability in going forward.”
9. Wide of meeting
10. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kerry, United States Secretary of State:
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
“So when I speak with President Morsi tomorrow i will be speaking with him about the very specific ways that we, the United States, that President Obama would like to see us engage – including economic assistance, support for private businesses, growing Egypt’s exports to the United States, investing in Egypt’s people through education. There are some very specific things that we need to do and all of them we would only do in consultation with the government of this country.”
11. Wide of meeting
STORYLINE
United States Secretary of State John Kerry said that it is essential that the Egyptian economy gets stronger and creates “a sense of security” and “economic and political viability” if the country wants to attract foreign investment.
Speaking to business leaders on Saturday in Cairo, Kerry said an agreement on economic reforms, including increasing tax collections and curbing energy subsidies, to seal a 4.8 (b) billion US dollar International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan package was critical.
“It is paramount, essential, urgent that the Egyptian economy gets stronger, gets back on its feet and it’s very clear that there is a circle of connections in how that can happen,” said Kerry, who is in Cairo on the sixth leg of a nine-nation trip to Europe and the Middle East.
“To attract capital, to bring money back here that will invest, to give business the confidence to be able to move forward, there has to be a sense of security. And there has to be a sense of economic and political viability,” Kerry added.
Kerry said that closing the IMF deal also would unlock significant US assistance promised by US President Barack Obama last year.
“It’s clear to us that the IMF arrangement needs to be reached, and we need to give the marketplace the confidence,” Kerry said.
Kerry is set to meet Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday.
Kerry said he would discuss business cooperation topics with the president.
“I will be speaking with him about the very specific ways that we, the United States, that President Obama would like to see us engage – including economic assistance, support for private businesses, growing Egypt’s exports to the United States, investing in Egypt’s people through education,” he said.
The continuing political turmoil has scared away tourists and foreign investors, eroding Egypt’s foreign reserves by nearly two-thirds of what it was before the uprising.
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