North Caucasia’s Ingushetia district can export $20m-worth of products to Egypt if economic rapprochement was agreed between Egypt and Ingushetia, Ingushetian President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov told Daily News Egypt Tuesday.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Egyptian-Russian Business Forum, Yevkurov said that there are many sectors that can lure Egyptian investors to Ingushetia, including textile, vehicle production, and meat production.
Official negotiations between Egypt and Ingushetia have not yet happened, however Yevkurov said he has invited the Egyptian ministers of industry and agriculture to visit Ingushetia to showcase the region’s investment opportunities.
“With regard to industries, opportunities for Egyptian investors are in the sectors of manufacturing gas and fuel pipelines, vehicles and economic lanterns,” Yevkurov noted.
The volume of investments in Ingushetia amounts to $340m annually, Yevkurov said, adding that his district is targeting to increase the figure to $400m annually in three years.
Yevkurov also added that it might be a good opportunity if Egypt and Ingushetia have exchanged tourists.
Russia and Egypt have enjoyed “strong” relations since Soviet times, which “have resulted in infrastructure projects”, Yevkurov said. He added that Russia is currently supporting Egypt in the sectors of infrastructure and military production.
On the challenges facing Russian investors in Egypt, Yevkurov said they are the same challenges facing Egyptian investors in Russia. “Egypt and Russia should be independent of outside effects, focus on business and separate politics and economy,” he answered.
When asked whether the Egyptian-Russian Business Forum has succeeded in achieving business understanding between investors from both countries, Yevkurov said that the Egyptian market is not new for Russian investors, “it was just temporarily halted due to the insecurity situation that followed the 25th of January revolution,” he said.
Positive thing about the forum is that 99% from the Russian attendees are businessmen not government officials, which reflects the seriousness of Russian investors towards Egypt, Yevkurov said.
