|
 Mehleb, followed by his ministers, took the oath of office in
front of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who
re-appointed him after Sisi won a landslide election victory in May.
Trying to project a sense of urgency and purpose in the new
government's mission, the early-rising former military president had
summoned the ministers to a palace in northern Cairo at 6 a.m. for a
ceremony that began promptly, an hour later.
His prime minister echoed the need to move quickly, promising an
energetic, focused and better coordinated regime.
"There is no time for rest," Mehleb was quoted as saying on the
front page of the state’s Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
"We will start our work from the early hours of the morning as there
is a strict plan and new technique of work to tie all the ministers
to work together and not work as if they were isolated islands," he
added.
Egypt's economy is forecast to grow at just 3.2 percent in the
fiscal year that begins on July 1, well below levels needed to
create sufficient jobs for a rapidly growing population of 86
million and to ease widening poverty.
 The turmoil of the last three years, when two presidents were
overthrown, hundreds of people were killed and tourism and
investment were battered, have contributed to high unemployment and
a widening budget deficit.
The government will also have to tackle the legacy of decades of
corruption and red tape and a costly subsidy system - fuel subsidies
alone cost the state nearly $19 billion a year.
Mehleb said ministers will provide him with a weekly plan that he
will review at meetings with his cabinet, which he said was chosen
after interviews with more than 90 candidates for the various
ministerial portfolios.
The new cabinet includes 34 ministers, of whom 14 were newly
appointed. Just four of the ministers are women. INVESTMENT
MINISTER
"I swear by God to sincerely protect the republican system, to
respect the constitution and law and take full care of the people’s
interests, protect the independence of the nation and the unity and
safety of its lands," Mehleb said at the early morning ceremony at
the presidential palace in Cairo.
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His cabinet includes veteran banker Ashraf Salman as investment
minister. His appointment, and the creation of a separate investment
ministry, reverses a decision earlier this year to merge the
ministry with that of industry and trade.
Salman, a U.S.-educated investment banker is the co-founder and
co-CEO of Cairo Financial Holding, an Egyptian asset management,
corporate finance and investment banking firm.
He previously held a senior position at Arab African International
Bank-Egypt and has worked on privatisation policies, according to
the Cairo Financial Holding website.
Other new faces in the government include former ambassador to
Washington Sameh Shukri, who was appointed foreign minister, and
Naglaa El Ahwany, a university professor who was named minister for
international cooperation.
But most ministers are holdovers from the previous regime, including
the ministers for finance, defence, interior, planning, oil,
electricity, supplies and communications.
Keeping the cabinet largely intact could allow Sisi to quickly
implement the kind of reforms urged by the United Arab Emirates,
which, along with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, gave billions of dollars
in aid after Islamist President Mohamed Mursi was ousted by Sisi and
the army last July.
(Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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