"Egyptian-Belgian" Talks to Develop Investment, Boost Trade Exchange

The Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El-Khatib concluded his visit to the Belgian capital Brussels with a meeting with the head of the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency, Didier Malherbe to discuss ways to strengthen trade and investment relations between Egypt and Belgium.

During the meeting, the minister stressed the importance of joint work to increase the volume of trade between the two countries, which last year amounted to about 2.1 billion euros, in cooperation with the Belgian agency and investment and trade agencies in the three Belgian provinces.

The minister pointed out that high-level visits between Egypt and Belgium witnessed great momentum during the last period, especially the visit of the Egyptian president to Brussels in February 2022, and the visit of the Prime Minister in October 2023.

He pointed to the meetings that took place during these visits with the heads of a number of major Belgian companies operating in Egypt, which are looking forward to increasing their investments in various fields, including Demi, which specializes in hydrogen production, Yan de Nol, which specializes in marine wiring and dredging, and John Cockerell, operating in the manufacture of electrodes used in the production of green hydrogen.

The minister also stressed the importance of including Egypt on the map of Belgian high-level economic missions sponsored by the Belgian government, while enhancing cooperation in organizing mutual trade missions between the three Belgian regions, which was welcomed by the Belgian side.

On his part, the head of the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency praised the agency's continuous support to the Egyptian business community through economic events organized in Brussels during multiple Egyptian visits.

He stressed the confidence of Belgian companies in the investment climate in Egypt, which reflects the size of the investments of major Belgian companies currently in the Egyptian market.