Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) Chief Abu Bakr al-Guindy, said the national economic census fieldwork will start on Saturday for three months.
During a conference on Tuesday, Guindy said the census, which takes place every five years, will cost LE12 million. It will offer complete data for government, investors and researchers on both public and private economic activities in Egypt.
CAPMAS conducted surveys on 1800 areas, which represent 10 percent of the targeted areas, according to Guindy. Around 200,000 business entities were counted in the study, including 1300 public ones and 18,800 privately-owned entities.
Guindy stressed that the agency will protect the secrecy of data obtained, as current law bans providing any public or private authority with the information, which is to be used for statistical purposes only. Any employee who discloses such private information will be sentenced to six months in prison.
Guindy also revealed that an ex-prime minister asked for detailed information about number of the poor in a specific residential area in order to better help them. However, the agency refused, as it violates privacy laws.
When asked about success of the census in unstable governorates like North Sinai, Guindy said it has been arranged to secure the agency’s representatives, who were chosen from within the same governorate. He added that the agency is not responsible for acknowledging the political identity of specific establishment.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
