Banque Misr will sign a $500m loan agreement with the Chinese Development Bank (CDB), with a term of eight years.
The bank earlier signed a $100m loan agreement with the CDB, with a term of five years, to finance owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Two memorandums of understanding were also signed with the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (commonly known as Sinosure) to provide guarantees for a maximum of $500m to Banque Misr for financing the projects with Chinese shares.
Banque Misr has also signed an agreement with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to receive direct facilitations based on the guarantee offered by Sinosure to finance projects involving Chinese companies. The Chinese contributions vary according to the type of projects, including energy, construction, infrastructure, and others.
Based on the recent agreement, the Egyptian side signed an agreement with the ICBC in the last week to finance a project for China’s Huawei in Egypt, at a cost of about $100m.
The bank opened its representative office in Guangzhou last week in the framework of its expansion plan outside the Egyptian market. The office will help to promote economic ties between Egypt and China and facilitate trade exchange between the two countries.
The opening ceremony was held in the presence of Mohamed El-Etribi, chairperson of Banque Misr; Akef El-Maghraby, the vice chairperson of the bank; and Effat Ishak, the general manager of the financial sector and correspondents at Banque Misr. The event was also attended by Fatima El-Gouli, the general manager of the communications sector, and Ehab Makkawi, the general manager of development of branches. The Egyptian government also delegated Osama El-Magdoub, ambassador of Egypt to China; Mamdouh Salman, the head of Egypt’s Economic and Commercial Office in China; and Omar Ezzat, the second secretary of the Egyptian embassy in Beijing.
According to the bank’s report, Guangzhou city was chosen because it is considered one of the most important Chinese cities and the capital of the Guangdong province in South China. It is the southern gateway to China for the world. The majority of business and capital institutions are there; hence, it is considered the financial center of South China, where some of the most important exhibitions are carried out. The volume of its trade represents around a quarter of the volume of China’s foreign trade. Moreover, the city is considered one of the largest industrial and commercial ports in China and the world, as well as being the main source of the majority of Egyptian imports from China.
Banque Misr exchanges direct and indirect facilitations with the largest banks in China to cover mutual banking operations with these banks for millions of dollars every year in several fields—most prominently financing the trade between the two countries in the form of credit and document collectibles and letters of guarantee, in addition to foreign transfers and payment orders, as well as other fields.
