We recently had breakfast with 20 top CEOs to talk about why exports and FDI are key to our economy going forward. After reading our five-step recipe for turning Egypt into a global export hub and FDI magnet, participating CEOs agreed to answer two questions on the record for our latest CEO Poll.

We’ve already heard from: GSK’s Mohamed El Dababy | McKinsey’s Jalil Bensouda | Somabay’s Ibrahim El Missiri | ALC Alieldean Weshahi & Partners’ Bahaa Alieldean | HSBC Egypt’s Todd Wilcox | Actis’ Sherif El Kholy | Amazon’s Omar El Sahy | BII’s Sherine Shohdy | Mansour Automotive’s Ankush Arora.

Thomas Maher (LinkedIn) is president and CEO of Apex International Energy, the newest producer in Egypt’s oil and gas industry after discovering and developing three oil discoveries in the Western Desert the past two years. Maher joined Apex in 2016 as president and COO, then became CEO in May of this year. Prior to joining Apex, he held several senior leadership positions in his thirty-year career with Apache Corporation in the US, Australia and Egypt.

ENTERPRISE- Which industry would you put on a focused short list — and why?

TOM MAHER- The first thing that comes to mind when hearing that question is: What are the criteria to look for in these focus industries? The first would be whether the industry has a competitive advantage in Egypt. The second would be the potential for significant export revenues, or at the very least, potential to minimize imports in that sector. Lastly, I would look to the sector that can create significant employment. When I put those three criteria together, the sector that comes on top of my list is energy — and I’m talking about broad energy, from oil and gas to renewables to nuclear energy. I believe Egypt will benefit from all of these.

Second to energy is the value-add that’s done with that energy, like liquefied natural gas. That’s recently been a significant provider of FX, more than most other sectors outside of remittances, which isn’t really a sector. Energy and its exports definitely have competitive advantages, with Egypt’s great location and the fact that it has two ocean transit routes on its borders. The infrastructure is all there; we have LNG plants running, so it ticks all the boxes. We have significantly more electricity generation capacity than we use, and this surplus is also being planned for export to neighboring countries who need it.

Then I would move to tourism as number two. Egypt sits in a great location, and tourism is already a very significant source of employment. I think there’s a lot of untapped potential in tourism, especially when you think of the size of the country, its geography bordered by two seas, and its rich history. Turkey is similar in size, location and history as Egypt, yet generates two to three times more revenue from tourism. I see great potential for Egypt to double or even triple revenues from tourism in the future.

Then I would look at textiles and clothing. This is a pretty well-established industry in Egypt. The natural resources, such as cotton, are here, as are the ports for distribution. The labor market is also strong, and it’s another large employment provider. Agriculture is also very important for several reasons, even if it does not currently generate significant export revenues. We need to focus on agriculture for food security reasons, especially after what we have seen with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on wheat and other grain markets. Egypt really needs to focus on building capacity in the agricultural sector to feed its growing population, but I also think it can go beyond that. We are already exporting a significant amount of citrus, and I think there are many other products within this sector that can be helpful to growing export revenues.

Lastly, I want to mention education, which is crucial for remittances — the largest provider of FX in Egypt, even more so than tourism or Suez Canal revenues. We should be capitalizing on our young talent pool by educating as many people as possible in those sectors that will lead the country into the future.

E- Why are exports and FDI the way forward?

TM- It’s hard for me to imagine anyone in the public and private sectors not buying into the five-point strategy in light of what has happened the past six years. We had to go to the IMF and our Gulf neighbors three times in six years; that says something. I’m sure the IMF and our Gulf allies would like to see Egypt implement a strategy to grow exports and increase FDI, and the government is doing that. The best way moving forward with this strategy is to look where it has been implemented elsewhere and has been successful, countries like Vietnam, Morocco, and India. All of them were hurt with the same current account and balance of payments issues Egypt has been facing yet have significantly improved their economies by increasing exports and attracting FDI.

What is needed is a focus on what we do well, and where we have a competitive advantage in exporting, and build on that. There are many examples out there that we can tap into — talk to those governments and business leaders and get some advice. The first step is identifying those five industries, putting together a group that can promote it, and then pursue it relentlessly.