Good afternoon folks, and happy Wednesday. We’ve got another busy issue for you today, with the main highlight news about big changes that may be coming to the administration of state-owned enterprises.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

#1- All state-owned companies could be under SFE? The Madbouly government is aiming to transfer administration of all state-owned companies to the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) in order to boost their returns, Reuters reports, citing Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib.

You heard right — all of them: “I want to move the state-owned enterprises in batches to the [sovereign wealth] fund to manage, to maximize the return on, say, state assets,” El Khatib said at the Investopia 2025 conference in Abu Dhabi today.

The plan: SFE’s role will focus on restructuring state-owned companies, attracting private players, and potentially going public. “I see we have a lot of good companies. As we move them, get the private sector to run them, have the proper governance, partner with the private sector, list in some cases,” El Khatib said, “the perception of the [SFE] will be maximization of yield on the return value and the valuation.”

#2- Social protection package details incoming? President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk today to review the long-awaited social protection packages that the government has completed preparing, according to an Ittihadiya statement. Madbouly is likely to unveil the details of the package at his weekly press conference today. The minimum wage, tax thresholds, social protection coverage, and pensions are set to come into effect in July, while an additional package of one-time allowances and an expansion to the Takaful and Karama program could come into effect in March, the statement noted, confirming what EnterpriseAM reported earlier today.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

With int’l headlines still digesting news of a US-Ukraine mineral deal and US president Donald Trump’s new “gold card” visa and possible copper tariffs, a couple stories are catching our eye.

Russia, US move toward follow-up talks after high-level meeting: Russia and the US are preparing for expert-level discussions following last week’s high-level meeting and an earlier call between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports. While the meetings could involve an in-person meeting between Putin and Trump, Putin has recently provided indications that he would like to slow down progress toward ending the Russia-Ukraine war and engage in more gradual confidence-building measures with the US.

Elsewhere, South Korea has seen its first birthrate increase in nine years, with expanded government policies to support parents being pinpointed as a key contributing factor.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• More tax relief measures near implementation: The Finance Ministry is set to reduce penalties for late tax payments by up to 90% as part of its larger tax relief package, in a move that aims to resolve thousands of disputes resulting from delayed tax return submissions or filing returns without paying the due tax.
• Turkey’s Eroglu is setting up a USD 120 mn garment factory in Qantara West: Eroglu Garment — a subsidiary of Turkish clothing manufacturer Eroglu Holding — is investing some USD 120 mn in a new integrated garment factory in the Qantara West Industrial Zone.
• A gov’t delegation is negotiating the removal of restrictions on Egyptian goods in Moroccan ports: The government sent a high-level delegation to Rabat earlier this week to push for the removal of recent restrictions that have left Egyptian exports piling in Morocco’s ports for two weeks.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The capital is getting plenty of sunshine tomorrow with the mercury set to rise to a warm high of 22°C before dropping to a cooler low of 11°C in the evening, according to our favorite weather app.