With over 50 companies and investments exceeding $3bn, India, the ninth largest trading partner for Egypt, has a strong economic presence in the country.
Governments and business communities in both countries are, however, exerting efforts to expand the economic relations. Part of these efforts was the visit of an Indian business delegation of 17 members from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), led by Ajit Gupte, joint secretary of the Indian ministry of external affairs, paying a two-day visit to Egypt between 8 and 10 February.
“We came to Egypt to explore more business opportunities, and although India is a developing country, it approved a credit of $18.8bn. 50% of it, an amount of $9.6bn, is dedicated for investment in Africa,” commented Gupte.
Founded in 1895, the CII is one of India’s business chambers and includes 8,000 members from both the private and public sector, as well as over 200,000 enterprises from around 240 national and regional bodies.
The delegation was invited by the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) and represents various sectors: agribusiness, infrastructure, chemicals, power, food, and business services.
The purpose of this visit aimed at strengthening cooperation with Egyptian ministries, including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Wealth, the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, and the Ministry of Transportation; therefore, the delegation met with senior officials from the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) as well as from the Suez Canal Economic Zone Authority.
In order to point out the various trade and investment opportunities between both countries, the CII organised an India-Egypt Business Seminar on Thursday, in cooperation with the Embassy of India to Egypt and the FEI. The seminar was attended by businesspeople from various Egyptian business chambers, as well as by Egyptian government officials.
“We are here to have some very friendly interactions between Indian and Egyptian businessmen to take forward what was outlined during the visit of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to India in September 2016, and the decisions reached between the Egyptian President and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to put great emphasis on business-to-business cooperations,” said the Indian ambassador to Egypt, Sanjay Bhattacharyya, commenting on the results of the visit.
Photos courtesy of Embassy of India in Egypt
