Egypt, UAE agree to boost investment, commercial ties

CAIRO – 17 March 2018: Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed on enhancing joint cooperation in all fields to boost investment, industrial and commercial ties between both states.

This came at the end of the Egyptian-Emirati Joint Economic Committee’s meetings, which was headed by Egypt’s Trade Minister Tarek Kabil and UAE’s Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al-Mansouri Saturday.

Kabil said that both states agreed on continuous communication with the aim of boosting commercial ties, which saw a significant improvement after executing a number of joint development projects that work for the benefit of both states.

Kabil said that both sides agreed to remove obstacles that stand in the way of trade between both countries, and to facilitate the private sector’s participation in trade fairs with the aim of promoting national products.

They also agreed on the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the field of specifications and standards and enhancing cooperation in exchanging expertise and making use of the training programs organized by customs training institutes in both countries.

The two sides further agreed on completing the agreement on administrative cooperation in customs issues in preparation of signing it soon.

Al-Mansouri said that Emirati investors want to double their investments in Egypt over the coming period, stressing on the importance of exerting more efforts to remove hindrances facing investors in both states.

Kabil said that the UAE was the biggest country importing from Egypt in 2017, with Egyptian exports to the Gulf country standing at $2.5 billion.

He added that trade exchange between both countries increased by 20 percent over the last three years.

As for investment, The UAE comes first on the list of countries that have established investments in the Egyptian market with $6.2 billion in total investment.

During the meetings, Kabil said that Egypt is working on improving the business climate, which will encourage Emirati companies pump new investments in the Egyptian market.

The minister also reviewed efforts taken by his ministry within Egypt’s sustainable development strategy “Egypt 2030”, including the launch of the industrial investment map that contains some 4,800 investment opportunities across Egypt and the approval of the Industrial Permits Law that facilitates issuing industrial permits.

This is in addition to offering 28.5 million square meters of industrial lands and funding small-and medium-sized enterprises with LE 5.3 billion in 2017.

Kabil added that the measures taken by the ministry helped in curbing the trade deficit by 25 percent and helped Egypt pass the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s fourth review of the trade policies and practices last month.

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) enjoy solid economic relations that have particularly developed following the 30 June revolution in 2013.

According to data from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and the UAE during the first nine months of the fiscal year 2016/17 increased by $300 million to reach $4.6 billion.

The volume of Egyptian exports to the UAE increased by 14 percent during the period from June 2016 to March 2017 to stand at about $2.3 billion, up from $1.8 billion during the same period a year earlier.

Egypt's main exports to the UAE include appliances, furniture, fruits and vegetables, medical supplies, copper products, clothing, marble and cables.