Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly’s epic presser yesterday was all over the airwaves last night: Business leaders gave their reactions to the state’s strategy to raise private investment and sell-off state assets (covered in depth in this morning’s news well, above), while Planning Minister Hala El Said appeared to answer questions on the plans. Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi led the coverage, calling the announcement a “dramatic strategic shift” in the country’s economic policies towards the private sector (watch, runtime: 20:09).

BUSINESS REAX: The overall sentiment among industry leaders last night was positive. Mohamed El Sewedy, head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi that the plan is an “important first step and the beginning of self accountability” (watch, runtime: 12:04). Mohamed El Damaty, vice chairman of cheese maker Domty, also shared his optimism over the state’s ambitious privatization targets with El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 7:00), while Sherif El Gebaly, the chairman of the Egyptian Chamber of Chemical Industries, praised the measures to support industry (watch, runtime: 8:08).

But questions of implementation abound: Elsewedy said that implementing all the measures will prove a “challenge” while El Gebaly wondered how achievable the government’s export targets are. The goal to raise exports to USD 100 bn a year in the next four years is “not easy, yet not impossible,” he said, calling for “out of the box” ideas such as establishing Egyptian companies in African nations and overseas logistics centers (watch, runtime: 1:49).

A WORD FROM THE PLANNING MINISTER: The government wanted to say that “it’s open to the private sector” through the plan, Planning Minister Hala El Said told El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 9:42). She responded to worries by key industry players on implementation, saying that the government has worked with the private sector to outline details on the plan through working groups. “Most details have been finalized, with only 20-25% of details left,” she said.

We’ll have more details in a few weeks: A state ownership policy document that makes clear where the private sector will be welcomed will be issued “in the next few weeks”, El Said said. The document would provide clear guidelines on which projects would be handled by the private sector, the public sector, or both, she said. Vital sectors “that directly affect citizens” would still be handled by the state solely, she said.

On the status of IMF talks: We still don’t have a figure for the assistance we’re seeking for the IMF, El Said said, refuting that outlining a plan to include the private sector came upon a request by the Fund in exchange of aid. A new structural reform program, which aims to diversify the economy to protect against external shocks, came way before talks with the IMF, she said.