Category: Finance

Industry Minister Ahmed Samir discussed with Brazil’s ambassador to Egypt Antonio Patriota means to enhance bilateral economic cooperation.

The Industry Ministry detailed in a statement on Saturday 24/09/2022 that the meeting reviewed the global economic developments and means to increase trade exchange rates of different strategic products between both countries.

The minister lauded strong ties between the two countries in different domains, particularly the fields of trade, industry, agriculture, transport, investment, water management and civil aviation.

Samir underlined the importance of the Mercosur agreement, noting that the trade exchange between Egypt and Brazil increased by 29.5% last year, hitting some $2.5 billion compared with $1.9 billion in 2020.

For his part, Patriota stressed his country’s keenness to cement economic cooperation with Egypt in all fields, inviting the minister to visit Brazil to explore investment opportunities in different domains for both countries.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

Egypt’s economy achieved positive growth rates during the fiscal year ending June 2022, affirmed Finance Minister Mohamed Maait.

Egypt achieved a primary surplus during the fiscal year 2021-2022, amounting to 1.3 percent of GDP, said the minister, adding that the budget’s overall deficit slashed to 6.1 percent.

He further said that Egypt’s debt-to-GDP ratio dropped to 87.2% in June 2022.

The performance presentation for the fiscal year 2021-2022 established a positive impression of the resilience and solidity of the Egyptian economy among international financial institutions, added the minister during his meeting Wednesday with representatives from the Japanese companies operating in Egypt.

The meeting, which was organized by the Japanese Businessmen Association (JPA), saw the presence of Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Oka Hiroshi.

The minister, meanwhile, pointed out to the mega projects which are being implemented in Egypt, adding that these projects contributed to attaining a growth of 6.6 percent during fiscal year 2021/2022.

Such projects also contributed to providing thousands of job opportunities, despite the ongoing global challenges arising from the extraordinary fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and the adverse impacts of the Ukrainian crisis, added the minister.

“We still have promising and attractive opportunities for local and foreign investments in various fields,” affirmed the minister.

The government is keen on enhancing the private sector’s participation in unprecedented major projects, he went on to say.

The minister further affirmed that the government seeks to simplify and facilitate customs procedures.

“We are looking forward to increasing Japanese investments in Egypt”, said the minister, noting that the volume of Japanese direct investments in Egypt increased by 52% during the last fiscal year.

The volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached about dlrs 1.5 billion in 2021, with a 13% increase a year earlier, noted the minister.

Egypt is studying with Japan the issuance of green Samurai bonds during the coming period, he said, adding that the move came after Egypt successfully issued the first Samurai bonds in the Japanese market, valued at 60 billion Japanese yen, which attracted many Japanese investors.

For his part, the Japanese ambassador voiced appreciation to the support of the finance minister of the Japanese business in Egypt, which contributes to creating an attractive business climate.

The Egyptian-Japanese economic ties witnessed a quantum leap over the past years, added the ambassador.

The finance minister’s meeting with the Japanese businessmen greatly contributes to removing all obstacles facing them in Egypt and encouraging them to expand their investments, he added.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tareq el Molla said setting and implementing a comprehensive vision for the development and modernization of Egyptian petroleum refineries have contributed to increasing their production capacity and promoting their operating efficiency, especially that most of them have been working for decades.

Molla made the remarks on Tuesday 20/9/2022 during meetings of the general assemblies of a number of petroleum refining companies to approve the business results for the 2021/2022 fiscal year.

The minister emphasized the importance of keeping pace with modernity and the global development seen in the petroleum refining industry.

He also underscored the necessity of providing petroleum products with global specifications with a view to meeting the local market needs and exporting surplus products.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

Minister of Transport Kamel el Wazir has visited the InnoTrans Berlin trade fair for transport technology, where he toured a number of pavilions including that of Egypt’s Orascom company and the Germany-based Siemens AG technology company.

Wazir praised the role played by Egyptian companies in implementing national projects in various fields, including the transport sector.

On the fringes of the fair, the minister held a series of meetings with the heads of companies contracted to carry out transport projects in Egypt.

Wazir met with the chairman of Siemens company to agree on the executive steps for implementing Egypt’s three-line high-speed electric railway network.

He also held meetings with officials from Caterpillar Inc’s Progress Rail, Spanish train manufacturer Talgo, Thales Group, and Spanish train maker CAF.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

Manpower Minister Hassan Shehata met Sunday with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development for the Labor Sector Abdullah Abu Thnunin.

The meeting mulled the situation of Egyptian laborers i in Saudi Arabia and the role of vocational training in qualifying the manpower to meet the needs of various markets.

Shehata hailed deeply-rooted relations linking the two countries.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 48th Arab Labor Conference (ALC) that kicked off in Cairo earlier in the day under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

This session, which will run until September 25, is chaired by Morocco.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

Chief of Asia-Pacific and Africa Investments at Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) Sheikh Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani asserted on Saturday 17/09/2022 that his current visit to Egypt made him and his accompanying delegation eager to invest in the country’s tourism and hotels sector.

This came during his meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli which was attended by a number of Accor company’s senior officials.

During the meeting, Bin Thani said that Egypt is considered one of three most important destinations for Qatari investments in the region, noting that the authority gives great attention to the Egyptian market.

Madbouli said that visit by the Qatari business delegation gives a strong impetus to economic cooperation.

The meeting led to an agreement between both sides on continuing talks concerning projects to be implemented and hotels to be invested in so as to make the utmost benefit from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s recent visit to Qatar.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

 The Finance Ministry denied on Friday social media reports on raising the price of customs dollar used for import deals in Egypt, making it clear that the customs dollar is no longer exists.

In a statement, the ministry’s media observatory said there are unofficial Facebook pages that publish “posts” related to the administrative work system at the Customs Authority, saying there is no longer the so-called “customs dollar”.

However, it is just the daily spot exchange rates of the EGP against major currencies announced by the Central Bank of Egypt, according to the statement.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

International Cooperation Minister Rania el Mashat reviewed a presentation on Friday about ‘Sharm El-Sheikh Guide to Fair Finance’, which is being outlined in light of Egypt’s preparations for the UN climate conference, COP27.

Mashat was speaking during a roundtable on the guide in the presence of regional and international officials. ‘Sharm El-Sheikh Guide to Fair Finance’ aims to launch an international framework for climate action that can be implemented in developing countries and emerging markets to lure more investments in adaptation projects.

Mashat noted that over 70 regional and international development partners, institutions, banks, and think tanks took part in preparing the guide, pointing out that Africa only receives 5.5% of the climate fund in terms of a big gap between the government and private funds for climate action.

Source: State Information Service Egypt