Egypt and Jordan signed an agreement to establish a coordination council for investment cooperation between the two countries during the meeting of Arab financial institutions in the Dead Sea, Jordan.
The agreement was signed by Sahar Nasr, minister of investment and international cooperation, and Muhannad Shehadeh, Jordanian minister of state for investment affairs and chairperson of the Jordan Investment Authority, in order to enhance bilateral investment relations and develop mutual cooperation between the two countries.
Nasr explained that the council will be an economic grouping comprising investors and members of the business community in Egypt and Jordan, with the aim of strengthening relations in various investment fields. They will be selected by the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and the Jordanian Investment Authority.
The agreement provides for the exchange of information regarding investment policies and legislation, improving the investment climate, presenting the investment opportunities available in both countries, identifying the promising sectors, holding sector meetings to increase inter-investment in these sectors, and organising joint conferences and seminars on investment in the two countries.
Moreover, the council will organise consensual meetings between businesspersons and companies in the two countries, studying the establishment of joint projects between businesspersons in both countries, and working to overcome any obstacles to growth, increase investments, and work to find solutions.
For his part, Shehadeh said that the two countries will set up a joint working group from both sides to prepare a plan of action to support the investment cooperation between the two sides and work to activate it with the aim of developing relations between the two sides in the field of investment and business. The meetings will be held in the two countries.
Meanwhile, the minister then met with Emad Fakhoury, minister of planning and international cooperation of Jordan, where they discussed ways of cooperation and joint coordination of the position of Egypt and Jordan with international and regional financial institutions and exchange of experiences between the two countries.
Nasr represented Egypt at the meeting of the governors of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) during the meetings of the Arab institutions.
Later on, the minister stressed the importance of the bank to start to work on developing a new strategy and to adopt a more selective policy of selecting the best technical support projects funded by the bank to ensure that they serve real development goals in African countries that are easy to measure, review, and evaluate entrepreneurship, institutional reform, and sustainable development of the continent.
The minister stressed the importance of encouraging and increasing private sector operations, while raising the ceiling of financing for development projects carried out by governments.
