Egypt’s Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil announced that two major Indian and Indonesian companies have expressed their intention to inject new investments into the Egyptian market in the information technology, automotive, and petrochemical industries.
The minister said that Indian Hinduja Group is considering the establishment of a complex to manufacture buses in Egypt, similar to its factory in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, pointing out that the company targets to make Egypt a hub for the manufacturing and marketing of buses and mini-buses in the Middle East and North Africa.
Kabil added that Indonesian Indorama Industries seeks to resume its work in Egypt in the field of petrochemicals, which was affected by the 25 January Revolution, pointing out that the current stability in Egypt has encouraged the company to return to the Egyptian market and invest in the field of petrochemical industries.
This came amid a series of meetings held by the minister with a number of major international companies participating at the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, which is scheduled to end on Friday.
Kabil had stressed the Egyptian government’s keenness to attract more investment and foreign capital to the Egyptian market, referring to the economic reform measures implemented recently to make Egypt a production and investment hub in the Middle East and Africa. He pointed out that the new investment law reflects the current government’s plan to provide huge investment incentives for local and foreign investors, including tax exemptions, free industrial land, and new licensed factories.
Kabil met with Prakash Hinduja, chairperson of Hinduja Group in Europe, and discussed investment opportunities in the Egyptian market, and the incentives offered by the new investment law, highlighting the possibility of establishing joint projects in the field of telecommunications and information technology in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. It is to be noted that Hinduja Group was one of the Indian companies which met President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during his last visit to India in September 2016.
Chairperson of the company Prakash Hinduja said that his company aims to establish a joint project to produce vehicles in Egypt, noting that Hinduja had collaborated once with El Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company to provide the local market and some neighbouring markets with their needs of vehicles.
He added that Hinduja works in different sectors, including finance, banking, transport, energy, information technology, health, media, communications, and real estate development. There are more than 90,000 workers and employees in the company’s branches in major cities around the world, with a business volume of $16bn annually.
Kabil spoke about his meeting with Sri Prakash Lohia, founder and chairperson of Indorama Corporation, as they discussed a number of investment projects that the company can implement in the Egyptian market, including polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, and fertiliser projects. He pointed out that the company owns several projects in West Africa and the sub-Saharan countries, which represent a great opportunity to engage with these countries’ markets.
