Sisi to attend agreements signing in Belarus within framework of 'growing ties': SIS

CAIRO,17 June 2019: President Abdel Fatah el Sisi, during his current visit to Belarus, will attend the signing of a number of cooperation agreements within the framework of the growing economic ties between Cairo and Minsk, according to a report by the State Information Service (SIS).

In Belarus, the president will meet the heads of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly.

Sisi will also have talks with representatives of the business community in Belarus, heads of major companies, as well as senior officials and representatives of governmental bodies on means of boosting economic cooperation and vast investment opportunities in Egypt in light of the major national projects carried out in the country.

As for economic ties, the report said that the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Belarus increased to reach 108.7 million dollars in 2018, compared to 97.46 million dollars in 2017.

Belarus's exports to Egypt include tractors, trucks, tires, equipment, metal products, optical products, fertilizers, pumps, X-ray equipment and petrochemicals, the report pointed out. Its imports include citrus, fresh vegetables and fruits, aromatic and medicinal plants and tea, it said.

The largest exporters of Belarus products to Egypt are Belarusian Metallurgical Plant (BMZ), Minsk Tractor Factory (MTZ), Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) and Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry "Belneftekhim".

Joint production line of MAZ trucks on the basis of "Helwan Machinery and Equipment" company, affiliated to the Egyptian Military Production Ministry, as well as an assembly line of MTZ tractors on the basis of "Mediterranean Industrial Company" have been established.

In 2018, more than 30 high-level official and trade delegations from Belarus visited Egypt to discuss boosting bilateral cooperation in the industry, agriculture, construction, natural resources, environmental protection, banking, finance, transport and science fields.

Egypt and Belarus are implementing 19 projects in the industry, science and education domains.

In March 2016, Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) opened an office in Cairo.

In September 2015, Minsk Tractor Factory (MTZ) participated in the exhibition "Sahara-2015" where it showed a tractor "Belarus-350" developed for Egypt and the neighboring countries in the region.

In May 2017, the fourth meeting of the Belarus-Egypt Joint Trade Commission took place in Minsk.

There are nine Egyptian enterprises with 100 percent Egyptian capital and 12 joint Belarus-Egyptian companies that are registered in Belarus.

There are two Egyptian companies implementing two investment projects in the agro-tourism and agriculture domains in Minsk and Vitebsk cities in Belarus.

Belarus is ranked 38th out of 190 economies covered in the World Bank's Doing Business 2018 report.

Belarus and Egypt are developing relations in the field of tourism. Egypt is one of the leading destinations for the tourist flow from Belarus; 85,263 Belarus tourists visited Egypt in 2016.