Belarusian delegation to visit Egypt to discuss investments

CAIRO – 25 May 2017: A high-level government delegation from Belarus will visit Egypt to set up joint ventures especially in the Russian industrial zone located East Port Said in Suez Canal axis, stated Minister of Trade and Industry, Tariq Qabeel, on Thursday.
The investments are also expected to include reclaiming of 1.5 million feddans.

The Belarus delegation will be led by the Belarusian Deputy Minister of Agriculture along with representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection as well as the Ministry of Architecture and Construction.

In his statement, Qabeel said that it was agreed with the government of Belarus to identify a number of joint projects to be implemented in Egypt during the coming few months.

These discussions occurred during a meeting between Qabeel and the Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, Vladimir Semashko, in the presence of Dr. Hisham Arafat, Egyptian Minister of Transport and Belarusian Trade Minister. The discussions were held on the sidelines of the joint Egyptian-Belarusian trade committee meeting in Belarus capital, Minsk on May 24 to discuss means of supporting and developing joint economic cooperation between the two countries.

Qabeel pointed that Egypt has carried out series of economic reform efforts to restore Egypt's economic position on the international level and to attract investments in the Middle East and Africa.

He also said that the adopted industrial policy aims to maximize the added value of Egyptian products through the New Investment Law that strengthens local industrialization, especially in the field of machinery and equipment.

He also called on the Belarusian government to encourage its investors to benefit from the many advantages that characterize the Egyptian market, especially that Belarus own modern technologies both in the industrial and construction fields.

From his side, Arafat reviewed means of boosting cooperation between Egypt and Belarus in the field of transport especially in the area of developing railways, inland ports and logistics areas.

In this context, the deputy prime minister of Belarus stressed the importance of strengthening the existing cooperation between Belarus and Egypt.

He also highlighted the importance of signed agreements between the two countries. Semashko said that Belarus is keen to maintain the relations the largest country in the Arab and African region and welcomed the free trade agreement negotiations with Egypt in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

He welcomed the Belarus-Egypt cooperation especially that Belarus produces railroad cars for passengers and goods, in addition to producing locomotives and subway cars. The deputy prime minister stressed his country's readiness to participate in announced tenders by the Egyptian government to supply these types of vehicles.