Sisi affirms Egypt’s keenness to develop its economic partnership with U.S.

NEW YORK - 24 September 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi stressed Egypt's keenness to develop its economic partnership with the United States and push it towards new horizons to serve the interests of both countries.

This came in a word he delivered during a working dinner banquet hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce and the Egyptian-American Business Council, which was attended by a number of presidents and senior officials of major American companies operating in various sectors, said Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi.

President of the American Apache Company and Chairman of the Egyptian-American Business Council John Christmann welcomed the visit of president Sisi to New York to attend annual meetings of the UN General Assembly, and praised the continuous improvement in the Egyptian economy and the success of measures taken by Egypt to improve its economic environment and encourage investments, affirming the determination of the council to continue to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between the two countries in various domains, the spokesman said.

US Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President for International Affairs Myron Brilliant welcomed President Sisi to New York. This annual meeting with the chamber is meant to boost economic relations between two countries.

Sisi said Cairo is keen on further developing its economic partnership with Washington to serve the best interests of both their peoples, according to presidential spokesman Bassam Radi.

This partnership has always been a pillar of security and stability in the Middle East region, Sisi told the meeting.

Egypt, the president said, tops the list of African countries with which the US has business and the second in the Middle East.

He reviewed the latest developments in Egypt, particularly where its economic reform program is concerned. An integrated economic reform program has sure helped reach radical solutions to structural problems, Sisi said.

The president touched upon what he called "important structural reforms" in the fields of industry, investment and exports.

This, he added, has been going hand in hand with effective social programs to protect the most-in-need brackets, Sisi noted.

Indeed, Egypt has made a number of "drastic" and "unprecedented" economic decisions, building on the reform program that was outlined in partnership with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and in line with Egypt's 2030 vision to achieve sustainable development, he said.

The meeting took up the different investment opportunities in Egypt; be that in infrastructure, logistics, IT, energy, pharmaceuticals or automotive industry.

The spokesman said the meeting witnessed an open discussion with a set of leaders and top officials of US companies who were present and praised the distinguished economic performance of Egypt over the past period. They also expressed their willingness in bolster their presence in the Egyptian market and expand their investments in the standing projects.

Responding to questions by a number of US companies leaders on the investment climate in Egypt, Sisi said, is keen on communicating with US businessmen to know problems and obstacles, if any, they are facing and act to solve them.

He invited US companies to boost investments in all promising fields in Egypt.

Sisi hailed the robust strategic Egyptian-US ties, noting that bilateral relations have grown even stronger on the back of the recent developments across the region, especially the spread of terrorism, said spokesman Bassam Radi.

Sisi attributed Egypt's stability to its security efforts and the belief of all Egyptians in the importance of protecting social peace and higher national interests and confronting terrorism, Radi added.

Egypt's stability has its positive effects both on the regional as well as the international levels as it helps regain stability and security and drive development efforts across the Middle East, the president noted.

The president also reviewed during the meeting several investment opportunities in Egypt across various sectors including infrastructure, logistics, telecommunications and information technology and energy in addition to the pharmaceutical and auto industries, promising to remove all obstacles hindering investments, Radi said.