Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Amr Nassar, stated that the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Sweden reached $541m during the first eight months of 2018.
Nassar added that Sweden’s total investments in Egypt amounted to $133.5m, distributed across over 121 projects in different sectors, including industry, telecommunications, information technology, construction, tourism, and agriculture, noting that there is significant cooperation between Egyptian and Swedish companies in the textile industry.
During the meeting between Nassar and the Swedish ambassador to Egypt Jan Thesleff on Sunday, in the presence of a delegation of major Swedish companies operating in the Egyptian market, the two sides discussed ways of enhancing economic cooperation between both countries in industry, trade, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
For his part, Thesleff stressed his country’s enthusiasm to boost cooperation with Egypt, being one of the most important markets in the Middle East and Africa.
He announced that a delegation of Swedish transport and communications companies will visit Cairo in the coming month to discuss ways to limit road accidents in Egypt, in line with the Ministry of Transport’s efforts to develop the country’s road networks.
Thesleff had informed Daily News Egypt that Sweden aims to double the volume of its trade exchange with Egypt within the coming five years.
He added that the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Sweden amounted to €820m annually, noting there are about 15,000 Egyptians working in Swedish companies.
“The embassy’s work plan for 2019 will focus on developing bilateral relations in the innovation and youth-related fields, with the aim to increase the number of Swedish companies operating in the Egyptian market, which will create more job opportunities,” Thesleff said.
He asserted that the Swedish embassy will continue its efforts to strengthen relations with Egypt, expressing his willingness to hold more bilateral meetings, especially in the education field.
