Egypt President Woos Investors, Defends Latest Crackdown On Opponents

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi vowed on Thursday to make the country attractive to foreign investments despite the region's continuing political strife even as he defended the crackdown on political opponents.

Sisi told attendants of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that his administration is focused on removing restrictions to private-sector development and is planning to host a foreign-investment conference in March, a Wall Street Journal report said.

He also said that the government seeks to settle its row with investors. "Egypt should reiterate its commitment to open up to the world and to contribute to finding solutions to the shared challenges we all face," he said.

Creating an investor-friendly environment will help the country achieve a seven-percent growth rate and reduce joblessness to 10 percent by 2020, Sisi said.

Meanwhile, Ashraf Salman, Egypt's minister of investment, said in an interview that the political climate is "seen as an impediment to investors...but everybody should think about it from the perspective of the current regime."

Sisi has defended the crackdown on political opponents, arguing that there is a need for stability in order to make crucial economic reforms.

Thousands of Islamist opponents have reportedly been imprisoned and given death sentences while secular critics were given "harsh" prison terms.

Sisi also called on world leaders in the said forum to unite against terrorism, in the wake of the terror attacks in France this month.

"It is one battle (against terrorism) that attacks us to impose its view," said Sisi, as quoted by a Reuters report.

Egypt has fought Islamist militants for decades, mostly through security crackdowns. However, it has failed to eliminate radical groups, succeeding only at weakening them.

Sisi also called for promoting respect for religion. "The whole world, not just Muslims, needs to stand and review many points that provoke the feelings of others," said the former army chief who rose to the country's top post after he overthrew elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.

"We should provide a proper environment for respecting religion," he said.

Earlier this week, Sisi emphasized Egypt's role in countering terrorism. "If Egypt falls, terrorists will sweep Europe," The Cairo Post quoted the Egyptian leader as saying in a meeting with reporters in Abu Dhabi.