Trade Exchange bet. Egypt, Germany hits €5.81B in 2017

BY

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Thu, 21 Jun 2018 - 11:02 GMT

BY

Thu, 21 Jun 2018 - 11:02 GMT

FILE - Amr Nassar

FILE - Amr Nassar

CAIRO – 21 June 2018: Trade Exchange between Egypt and Germany rose 5 percent in 2017, reaching €5.81 billion, compared to €5.57 billion in 2016, according to Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Amr Nassar.

The minister clarified that the current German investments in Egypt amount to $641 million through 1080 projects in the fields of industry, services, agriculture, construction, communications, information technology and finance.

On the other hand, the total Egyptian investments in Germany recorded $35.5 million in the fields of finance, medicines, furniture, appliances, medical supplies, tourism and trade, the minister added.

This came during the meeting of the minister of finance with German Ambassador to Cairo, Julius Georg Loew, to discuss the future of economic cooperation between the two countries in the commercial and industrial sectors.

According to the minister, the meeting discussed the importance of attracting more European investments in general and German investments in particular to the Egyptian economy.

Nassar stressed the ministry's keenness to attract international companies to invest in the Egyptian market, which will give a strong impetus to the national economy and enhance the confidence of foreign investors in the Egyptian market as one of the most important investment markets in the Middle East and Africa.

The ministry aims at expanding the scope of investment cooperation with all countries in the world, especially the countries of the European continent, referring to the importance of strengthening economic cooperation between the European countries and the South Mediterranean in various fields of industry, trade and services.

For his part, Loew talked about the possibility of strengthening cooperation between Germany and Egypt in many fields, focusing on technical training, especially that Germany has extensive experience in this field, which contributes to the provision of qualified technical manpower to meet the needs of the Egyptian industry.

Nassar, 57, was named as the Minister of Trade and Industry on Thursday, June 14, to succeed Tarek Kabil. Nassar graduated from the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University in 1985.

Nassar served as the deputy chairman of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) division of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).

Nassar was appointed as the secretary general of the Engineering Export Council of Egypt (EEC) in 2012. He also served as a member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Engineering Industries.

In 2017, Egypt's non-oil exports rose 10 percent to $22.42 billion, up from $20.41 billion in 2016.

Egypt’s exports revived after the flotation of the Egyptian currency by losing about 50 percent of its value, making the Egyptian exports attractive to foreign markets.

Former Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Kabil said that Egypt’s non-petroleum exports rose 16 percent during the first four months of 2018, recording $8.64 billion, compared to $7.43 billion during the same period of 2017.

Kabil stressed that the positive indicators of the Egyptian foreign trade reflect the success of the 2020 strategy.

The 2020 strategy was launched in November 2016 by Kabil. It includes five main axes: industrial development, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) development and entrepreneurship, export development, training and technical education development, and corporate governance and development.

The strategy aims at increasing exports in the first place after strengthening the local industry.

The ministry seeks during the current period to enter new markets, expand in traditional markets and make full use of trade agreements signed with a large number of countries and economic blocs around the world to boost Egyptian exports to foreign markets.

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