Dr. Islam Azzam, Executive Chairman of The Egyptian Exchange (EGX), participated in a panel discussion about “Dispute Resolution & Economic Growth”. The session was held as a part of “Egypt Arbitration days” event arranged by “Tamimi & Co”. The event attended by selected experts and representative of international and regional financial institutions as well as economic decision makers discussing means of enhancing investment and business environment in Egypt.
During his Speech, Dr. Azzam confirmed that developing effective system for dispute settlements is essential for attracting local and foreign investments, strengthening the confidence of investors in the Egyptian market. He also referred to the economic and structural reform implemented during the past years and its role in increasing the ability of economy to attract foreign investments of around 45 billion dollars during 2024.
EGX Executive Chairman clarified that the presence of clear institutional and legal framework for dispute settlements contributes to reducing investment risks and increasing the pace of economic growth. He introduced examples from international experiments as of Rwanda and Georgia, both achieved growth rates above 8% due to several factors, among which is developing systems for disputes settlement.
Dr. Azzam explained that disputes related to Financial market are settled through systems of disputes settlement for non-banking financial sector, which includes Economic and Commercial courts, The Egyptian Center for Arbitration and settlement of non-banking financial disputes (ECAS) through arbitration, mediation and reconciliation, beside other parties like General Authority for investment and free zones (GAFI) and Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA).
He added that EGX, being part of the non-banking financial sector, is committed to execute all the decisions issued by specialized parities of dispute settlements fully respecting the role of arbitration and reconciliation in supporting financial market stability and increasing trust in the Egyptian market.
Dr. Azzam highlighted enhancing the legal framework of disputes settlement to ensure execution of related decisions. In addition to the availability of clear channels in case of non-compliance such as courts and other specialized parties. Also transparency is important and publishing periodical reports clarifying the nature of issues and its results to assure trust and accountability.
Dr. Azzam pointed to the importance of the leading international experiments for enhancing dispute settlement system in Egypt to ensure execution of the decisions and commitment of the parties. He added that it’s really important to have clear law with specialized authority and specific procedures, along with basics of executing decisions as well as fixing the cost of dispute settlement determining the party who will bear the cost. He also highlighted the importance of independence of this authority, which should be supported by convenient human and technical resources.
Dr. Azzam added that he believes the integrated effective system of dispute settlement is one of the pillars of sustainable economic development due to its positive impact on the business environment and accordingly attracting more local and foreign investments achieving goals enhancing competitiveness of the Egyptian economy both levels regional as well as international.
Dr. Azzam concluded his speech that EGX supports the establishment of an integrated effective disputes settlement system covering the different fields of the national economy in general, and the non-banking financial sector in specific. He ensures EGX commitment to execute all the decisions related to the stock market in coordination with all parties including listed companies, membership companies to guarantee commitment to all rules.
