Current British investment in Egypt reaches $5.6B

CAIRO – 16 May 2018: Current British investment in Egypt is at $5.6 billion through implementing 1,450 projects, Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Kabil said.

This came during Kabil’s first meeting with the members of the Egyptian side of the Egyptian-British Business Council after its restructuring, which reviewed the role of the council in promoting economic cooperation between Egypt and the U.K. during the next phase.

Kabil stressed on the importance of enhancing the strategic partnership between Egypt and Britain to deepen the trade movement between the two states in addition to studying the future of their relationship in light of Brexit.

Brexit is a combination of two words, “British” and “exit”, and refers to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. In June 2016, the British electorate voted to leave the EU with a percentage of 51.9 percent.

The minister added that the new structure of the Britain-Egypt Business Council would have an essential role in supporting and developing the inter-trade movement, besides encouraging the private sector in Britain to invest in Egypt.

He referred to the importance of transferring the real image of the Egyptian economic reform program to the British society in order to introduce the improvement of the Egyptian business climate to the international business communities.

Egypt took several decisions as a part of an economic reform program to receive a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including floating its currency, implementing a value-added tax and cutting subsidies.

The IMF’s executive board approved in November 2016 a three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFT) loan to Egypt worth $12 billion to support its economic reform program.

For his part, the head of the Egyptian side in the council, Hesham Mekkawy, said that the council seeks to organize a number of visits of big British companies to Egypt during the second half of 2018 to know the available investment opportunities in Egypt.

Kabil issued a decree in March 2018 to restructure the Egyptian side of the Britain-Egypt Business Council for three years under the chairmanship of Chairman of British Petroleum Hisham Makkawi.