A NEW Egyptian cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, Mr Kamal Ganzouri, was sworn in yesterday in a ceremony at President Hosni Mubarak's palace.
There are six new ministers in the government, including Egypt's first woman economy minister, Ms Nawal el Tatawi, and two new ministers of state, but the defence, foreign and interior ministries are unchanged.
Mr Ganzouri, who replaced Mr Atef Sedki as head of government on Tuesday, will retain the planning portfolio that he has held since 1986.
"The aims of the new cabinet are to raise levels and look for more jobs and accelerate our economic development," said Mr Ganzouri.
Most ministers from Mr Sedki's cabinet have kept their posts, including the Defence Minister, Mr Muhammad Tantawi, the Foreign Minister, Mr Amr Moussa, and the Interior Minister, Mr Hassan el Alfi.
Ms Tatawi - the first woman to head the economy ministry in a country where previous female ministers have been confined in social affairs portfolios - and Mr Gharib will be responsible for Egypt's economic reform programme.
Mr Ganzouri said a major goal of the new cabinet was to encourage foreign investment in Egypt.
"Now we are at the stage of taking off, how to accelerate our economic growth, how to find jobs for not less than 400,000 [people] a year. And this is a very difficult job," he said.
The cabinet change came a month after Mr Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party won a sweeping majority in Egypt's last parliamentary elections this century amid widespread violence and opposition complaints of vote rigging.