World Bank applauds Egypt's pro-investment reforms as workers go on strike

27 September 2007

Egypt tops list of reformers in World Bank's 2008 "Doing Business" report.

The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) issued their 2008 “Doing Business” report on September 25, 2007. This annual report ranks 178 countries on the basis of how friendly their policies are toward investors. The report’s conclusions are widely publicized in the financial press and can influence market trends and investment decisions. Countries receive scores according to their business regulations and enforcement practices in ten specific areas: starting a business; dealing with licenses; employing workers; registering property; getting credit; protecting investors; paying taxes; trading across borders; enforcing contracts and closing business. 

The report also identifies the countries that have undertaken the most significant reforms in these ten areas during the preceding year. For 2006-2007, Egypt tops the list because of its significant reform efforts in five out of the ten policy areas.

However, some observers including the US Congressional House Committee on Financial Services, are concerned that in the drive to improve their ranking, countries like Egypt may adopt policies that are less favorable to workers' rights. "Employing workers," one of the ten topics on which “Doing Business” assesses country performance,  measures the flexibility of labor market regulations. The report’s ranking favors countries that have less rigid laws, which allow easier hiring and firing of workers and impose fewer requirements on employers.  More “flexible” labor laws often translate into less job security for workers. 

While the Egyptian government basked in the praise of the “Doing Business” report earlier this week, at home, 27,000 employees of the country’s largest textile mills went on strike, demanding higher wages and benefits.  The Egyptian government has reacted severely to the work stoppages,  sending several of the strike organizers to prison.

Resources

• Egypt's workers, squeezed by rising prices, turn to strikes, Associated Press, September 29, 2007 (International Herald Tribune website)
• Doing Business - The World Bank Group (Doing Business website)
• Rep. Barney Frank's Statement on the World Bank's "Doing Business" Report, September 25, 2007 (House Committee on Financial Services website)
• Egyptian workers take over giant textile plant by Wael Gamal, Reuters, September 24, 2007 (Reuters website)
• Workers in Mahala on Strike, Almasry Alyoum newspaper, September 27, 2007 (Almasry Alyoum website) (Arabic)