By: Ghada Helmy
Abdullah Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy in UAE revealed that the current investments for his country in Egypt has exceeded $ 15 billion, an amount to be increased, especially with the announcement of the joint investment fund between the two countries with a value of $ 20 billion.
His remarks came during the opening of the activities of the first session of the Emirates-Egypt Forum for Trade and Investment, the largest of its kind between both countries, attended by Amr Nassar, minister of Trade and Investment, Major General Mohamed Al-Asar, minister of Military Production, Mr. Tariq Amer, governor of the Central Bank of Egypt as well as Juma Mubarak Al-Junaibi, UAE ambassador in Egypt. More than 259 businessmen and investors from both countries have also taken part at the event.
He mentioned that Egypt represents the sixth Arab trading partner for the UAE and the twenty-first globally, and that the UAE is the second Arab partner and the tenth globally.
He pointed out that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries exceeded 3 billion dollars during the first half of this year, with strong indications speculating an increase of this amount during the year by about 10 percent compared to last year, to exceed 8 billion dollars.
The forum, which was organized by the UAE Ministry of Economy, UAE international Investors Council and the Egyptian-Emirati Business Council, aims to create a common dialogue platform between senior government officials, businessmen and representatives of the private sector in Egypt and the UAE.
The forum's agenda included a speech by Minister Nassar, Gamal Al-Sadat, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian-Emirati Council and Board chairman at Etisalat Telecom Egypt.
The forum tackles the developments of Emirati investment projects in Egypt and introduces investment opportunities available in various economic sectors in Egypt. The forum also reviews the success stories of Emirati investment companies in Egypt and their future plans and the most important sectors targeted for their investments.
The event agenda includes as well a number of sessions that focus on how to increase the investments of the Emirati private sector in Egypt and the role of the banking sector in promoting trade and investment between both countries, in addition to supporting and strengthening logistic services and insuring exports.
The forum is speculated to include the signing of MOUs, most notably one between the Export Credit Union (state owned by UAE) and the Egyptian Corporation for Export Guarantee - MTI.
On his part, Mr. Al-Junaibi stressed in his speech that the investment climate has significantly improved, noting that the industrial sector is one of the largest ones expected to receive new investments. He stressed that the economic and trade relations between Egypt and the UAE had a significant qualitative and quantitative shift during the past five years, reflecting the strength of the strategic bond between both countries and people.
He noted that the UAE investments in Egypt are existing in sectors of banking, telecommunications, information technology real-estate, oil, tourism, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, insurance, ports and aviation as well as other vital sectors.
Worth noting that the "Egypt and Emirates Forum for Trade and Investment" is the first product of joint cooperation between the UAE Ministry of Economy, UAE international Investors Council, chaired by Gamal Seif ElGarwan, and the Egyptian-Emirati Business Council, chaired by Gamal Al-Sadat, with the aim of initiating new investments capable of enhancing joint cooperation with the Emirati side on the commercial and investment levels.
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