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Infitah is an Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 word meaning "open door" and refers to Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
ian President
President

President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, company, trade unions, university, and country. Etymology, a "president" is one who Wiktionary:Preside, who sits in leadership ....
 Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat

Muhammad Anwar Al Sadat, or Anwar El Sadat , was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination on 6 October 1981....
 "opening the door" to private investment
Investment

Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in business management, finance and economics, related to Saving or deferring Consumption ....
 in Egypt. In the years following the October War with Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 in 1973 (also known as the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War

The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to October 26, 1973 by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel....
), Sadat brought a number of reforms to Egypt, the most famous of which was making Egypt the first Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 country to recognize Israel's sovereignty. He also instituted economic
Economics

File:Ballard Farmers' Market - vegetables.jpgEconomics is the Social sciences that studies the Production theory basics, Distribution , and Consumption of Good and Service ....
 reforms that ended the domination of Egypt's economy
Economic system

An economic system or ?conomic system is a system that involves the Economic production, distribution and consumption of Good and Service between the entities in a particular society....
 by the public sector
Public sector

The public sector is the part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the government, whether national, regional or local/municipal....
 and encouraged both domestic and foreign investment in the private sector
Private sector

In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy which is both run for private profit and is not controlled by the state. By contrast, enterprises that are part of the state are part of the public sector; private, non-profit organizations are regarded as part of the voluntary sector....
, a policy dubbed infitah.

After the October War, three schools of thought emerged in Egypt: the Marxists
Marxism

Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism holds at its core a Marxist analysis of Critique of capitalism and a theory of social change....
 favored continuing the socialist
Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
 trends that had developed in Egypt under the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
's influence, while a smaller group favored free market
Free market

A free market is a market that is free of government intervention and regulation, besides the minimal function of maintaining the legal system and protecting property rights, and is also free of private force and fraud....
 capitalism
Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are private property and controlled rather than commonly, publicly, or state-owned and controlled....
; prior to Sadat's election, the statists
Statism

Statism is a term that may refer to any of the following:# Government having a major role in the the direction of the economy, both through state-owned enterprises and indirectly through the central planning of overall economy....
, proponents of the command economy with limited private investment, dominated the political scene.






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Infitah is an Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 word meaning "open door" and refers to Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
ian President
President

President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, company, trade unions, university, and country. Etymology, a "president" is one who Wiktionary:Preside, who sits in leadership ....
 Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat

Muhammad Anwar Al Sadat, or Anwar El Sadat , was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination on 6 October 1981....
 "opening the door" to private investment
Investment

Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in business management, finance and economics, related to Saving or deferring Consumption ....
 in Egypt. In the years following the October War with Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 in 1973 (also known as the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War

The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to October 26, 1973 by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel....
), Sadat brought a number of reforms to Egypt, the most famous of which was making Egypt the first Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 country to recognize Israel's sovereignty. He also instituted economic
Economics

File:Ballard Farmers' Market - vegetables.jpgEconomics is the Social sciences that studies the Production theory basics, Distribution , and Consumption of Good and Service ....
 reforms that ended the domination of Egypt's economy
Economic system

An economic system or ?conomic system is a system that involves the Economic production, distribution and consumption of Good and Service between the entities in a particular society....
 by the public sector
Public sector

The public sector is the part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the government, whether national, regional or local/municipal....
 and encouraged both domestic and foreign investment in the private sector
Private sector

In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy which is both run for private profit and is not controlled by the state. By contrast, enterprises that are part of the state are part of the public sector; private, non-profit organizations are regarded as part of the voluntary sector....
, a policy dubbed infitah.

After the October War, three schools of thought emerged in Egypt: the Marxists
Marxism

Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism holds at its core a Marxist analysis of Critique of capitalism and a theory of social change....
 favored continuing the socialist
Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
 trends that had developed in Egypt under the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
's influence, while a smaller group favored free market
Free market

A free market is a market that is free of government intervention and regulation, besides the minimal function of maintaining the legal system and protecting property rights, and is also free of private force and fraud....
 capitalism
Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are private property and controlled rather than commonly, publicly, or state-owned and controlled....
; prior to Sadat's election, the statists
Statism

Statism is a term that may refer to any of the following:# Government having a major role in the the direction of the economy, both through state-owned enterprises and indirectly through the central planning of overall economy....
, proponents of the command economy with limited private investment, dominated the political scene. Sadat's infitah policy was heavily influenced by the free-market philosophy while still retaining some socialistic elements. It was not only ideologically but also politically motivated: by aligning himself with the West and with the rich and powerful members of Egyptian society, Sadat differentiated himself from the Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser

Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death in 1970. Along with Muhammad Naguib, he led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which removed Farouk of Egypt and heralded a new period of industrialization in Egypt, together with a profound advancement of Arab nationalism, including a short-lived United Arab Republ...
 era while at the same time securing his position in power. In 1977, Infitah policies led to massive spontaneous riots
1977 Egyptian Bread Riots

The Egyptian 'Bread Riots' of 1977 which rocked most major cities in Egypt from January 18-19 of that year, were a spontaneous uprising by hundreds of thousands of lower class people protesting World Bank and International Monetary Fund-mandated termination of state subsidies on basic foodstuffs....
 involving hundreds of thousands of Egyptians when the state announced that it was retiring subsidies on basic foodstuffs.

For more information on the Infitah, see Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat

Muhammad Anwar Al Sadat, or Anwar El Sadat , was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination on 6 October 1981....
.

See also

  • Open Door Policy
    Open Door Policy

    The Open Door Policy is a concept in foreign affairs. As a theory, the Open Door Policy originates with British commercial practice, as was reflected in treaties concluded with Qing Dynasty China after the First Opium War ....
  • Anwar Sadat
    Anwar Sadat

    Muhammad Anwar Al Sadat, or Anwar El Sadat , was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination on 6 October 1981....
  • Yom Kippur War
    Yom Kippur War

    The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to October 26, 1973 by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel....
  • Gamal Abdel Nasser
    Gamal Abdel Nasser

    Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death in 1970. Along with Muhammad Naguib, he led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which removed Farouk of Egypt and heralded a new period of industrialization in Egypt, together with a profound advancement of Arab nationalism, including a short-lived United Arab Republ...


External links