Egypt, Austria sign letter of intent to enhance economic cooperation

CAIRO – 27 April 2023: Egypt and Austria signed on Thursday a letter of intent to enhance the economic cooperation between the two countries.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and Austrian Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer witnessed the signing of the letter of intent on the sidelines of the Egyptian-Austrian business forum taking place in Cairo.

The new letter paves the way for a new phase of joint work between Egypt and Austria through the expansion of cooperation between the two countries to include further fields of mutual interest, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat during the signing ceremony.

The letter will also help enhance the exchange of expertise between Egypt and Austria and stimulate partnership between the business forums and the private sector based on the special relations between Egypt and Austria, the minister added.

Madbouli and Nehammer also chaired a roundtable for the Egyptian and Austrian business communities.

During the roundtable, Madbouli said the Austrian investments in Egypt have amounted to around $27 million through 173 companies operating in various sectors, such as chemical industries, transportation, engineering industries, construction, and food and pharmaceutical industries.

Trade exchange between Egypt and Austria totaled $309 million over the past five years, Madbouli noted.

On the sidelines of the forum, Egypt and Hungary also signed a memorandum of understanding between the Egyptian National Railways (ENR), Austria’s rail track manufacturer Plasser & Theurer, and Plasser Egypt on repairing and upgrading 30 railway maintenance machines of the ENR.

A maintenance contract for the future repair- for the period of 15 years- of 34 machines, out of which 30 are currently owned by the railway authority and four others still being manufactured by the Austrian company, has been reached as well.

Madbouli said that there are a variety of cooperation opportunities between Egypt and Austria in the coming phase especially the fields of green hydrogen, clean energy, desalination, agriculture, water resources management as well as industry.

During the roundtable meeting, Madbouli said there are opportunities in the field of training the Egyptian workforce for joining the Austrian labor market including special training courses on the language as well as getting acquainted with the Austrian community.

Nehammer, for his part, praised the fruitful outcome of his talks earlier in the day with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as they exchanged viewpoints regarding a variety of issues of common interest.

He also said that he is visiting Egypt together with representatives of 15 major Austrian companies, a matter which reflects Austria's interest in enhancing economic and trade ties with Egypt especially in the fields mentioned by the Egyptian premier.

Talks also covered cooperation between the two countries in the agricultural wastewater treatment as well as increasing Austrian tourist movement to Egypt.