For almost a year now the government has started selling stakes in state owned companies to private companies in order to boost investment and refresh the economy.

However what concerns me is that most of these sell outs are to foreign individuals/organisations and not Egyptian ones. Surely this is not the best way as the control (and profits) from these companies whether its a bank or a cement factory are taken out of Egypt.

Fair enough the Egyptian government has mismanaged quite a few companies, and I am first to admit that change had to be implemented but is it wise to sell it all off to foreign companies?

In a country like the US armaments, including nuclear submarines are made by private companies and it's working. The country has the largest economy in the world. But, the matter is not a one-size fits all, so what works in the US doesn't have to work in Egypt. I personally believe that until such time this country starts to have a decent growth rate the government has to retain its grip on the sectors that affect everyone (i.e., electricity, water, roads, transportation) so that the people wont have to suffer from the down side of free trade. On the other hand, every single "business" the government owns (e.g., retailers like Omar Effendi, factories, etc.) have got to go and right now before people lose interest in investing in the country.

Like you said the Egyptian government seems to have the 'knack' for running organisations/companies inefficiently. The best example that comes to mind is the national carrier, Egyptair. The airline has a fleet of 35 aircraft yet employs a phenomenal 28,000 people, while other airine with a similar size fleet only operate 6,000 staff. The government seems to use public companies like Egyptair to get as many Egyptians as possible into employment. Now at face value that may seem noble but the majority of the staff work underspaid, low skill jobs, which burdens the airline with huge wage costs. In addition the attitude with the airline staff is pretty poor as they all know they are not judged, so they perform bad jobs knowing that they won't get fired.

The problem I see with selling public companies to foreign airlines, is it removes the profit and enefits out of Egypt. And due to the lack of legislations and company laws in Egypt, the new foreign owners can really damage the Egyptian economy and people.

And another huge problem in Egypt is subsidize. The government heavily subsidies companys which means they remain uncompetitive and loose a lot of money...

As for banks, as the nerve centre of any economy, I too hope the government keep hold of them but all reports suggest they will also be sold off.