Italy's Pirelli considers building a research center in Egypt

CAIRO - 19 December 2017: Italy's tire manufacturer Pirelli is reportedly planning to build a research and development center in Egypt over the next three years, the Executive Director of Pirelli Egypt Fikry Kaissouni announced on Monday.

In a meeting with Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Kabil, Kaissouni said that the center, which is the first of its kind in Egypt, will work to improve tire manufacturing in the country, Italian news agency Nova News reported.

Kaissouni added that Pirelli exports its production from the country to European and Gulf countries.

Pirelli signed an agreement in November 2014 to expand and upgrade its tire factory in Alexandria with $107 million in investment.

The investment aimed to increase production capacity by 35 percent to reach 1.15 million tires a year.

Bilateral trade between Egypt and Italy hiked 13.9 percent in the first half (1H) of 2017 to stand at €2.59 billion ($3.05 billion), up from €2.27 billion in the same period last year.

Egyptian exports to Rome jumped 25 percent to amass €995 million in 1H 2017, compared to €796 million, according to a statement issued by the ministry.

The bilateral trade recorded €3.7 billion in 2016, while Italy is investing $2.7 billion in 1,015 projects in the fields of industry, tourism, agriculture, construction, communication technology and financial services.