Egypt, Hungary Discuss Cooperation in Localizing Transport Industry

The Egyptian Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir, and the Hungarian Minister of Trade and Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó held an expanded meeting in Budapest to discuss strengthening joint cooperation between the two sides in the various fields of transport, especially in the field of railways and the field of localization of the transport industry in Egypt.

Then the two ministers discussed the rates of supplying a deal of 1,350 new railway vehicles for passengers, whose supply is completed through the Hungarian Ganz Holding, which is considered the largest in the history of Egyptian railways, where the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade expressed his appreciation for this deal, which he described as a bright sign in the field of cooperation between the two sides, stressing the Hungarian side's commitment to the specified dates for the supply of vehicles.

They also discussed ways of joint manufacturing between the Hungarian company Ganz-MÁVAG and the National Egyptian Railway Industries Company (NERIC), especially in the localization of the wagon industry, which is being agreed to be supplied to the Railway Authority with a localization rate of up to 94%, and that payment is made in Egyptian pounds, which paves the way for transferring Egypt has become a center for manufacturing railway vehicles in the Middle East and Africa.

Al-Wazir stressed the importance of this step, especially that it comes within the framework of the ministry’s implementation of a comprehensive plan to establish a number of factories for the manufacture of mobile units of all kinds in Egypt, through cooperation with major specialized international companies.

Szijjártó also affirmed the full support of the Hungarian side for the settlement of the transport industry in Egypt, to be an industrial base for the manufacture of railway vehicles for export to the Middle East, Arab and African countries, so that this cooperation embodies one of the models of successful cooperation between the two sides.

Ways of cooperation were discussed in the field of sending railway engineers to Hungary for training on railway technology, especially with the ministry's implementation of a comprehensive plan to graduate new generations of young engineers who can keep pace with the great development in the transport sector in Egypt and training in the latest technology systems.