Kabil reshapes Egypt’s side at Egyptian-Russian Business Council

CAIRO – 7 April 2018: Trade Minister Tarek Kabil issued a decision Saturday to reshape the Egyptian side at the Egyptian-Russian Business Council for the next three years.

The council will be headed by member of Parliament Sahar Talaat Mostafa, Head of the Parliament’s Tourism and Civil Aviation Committee.

The decision obligates the Egyptian side of the council to present a biannual report that should include the council’s activities, suggestions and future plans for developing common interests between both countries and attracting more Russian investments to Egypt.

Kabil said that reshaping the council aims to expand trade and economic relations between Egypt and Russia, and that the council will play an important role in enhancing trade exchange between both states.

It will also work on encouraging Russia’s private sector to carry out joint projects in Egypt in different fields, which will help in boosting trade relations between Egypt and Russia, the minister said.

Egypt’s exports to Russia increased by 35 percent in 2017, reaching $504.5 million, compared to $374.1 million in 2016, Kabil said in March.

He said that the fact that Egyptian exports to Russia surpassed $500 million is considered a milestone in commercial ties between Egypt and Russia, adding that the free trade zone agreement between Egypt and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will help in doubling exports to these markets.

In February, Russian trade representative in Cairo Nikolai Aslanov said the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Russia hiked 62 percent year-on-year in 2017.

In statements to state news agency MENA, Aslanov indicated that Russia’s exports to Egypt in 2017 recorded $6.2 billion, while Moscow’s imports from Cairo were estimated at $505 million, according to the Federal Customs Service of Russia.

These figures are unprecedented in the history of trade relations between the two countries, he said.

Russia’s cumulative investments in Egypt totaled $4.6 billion by the end of December 2017, of which 60 percent was allocated to the petroleum and gas sectors.