Sojitz Corporation is considering injecting new investments in the Egyptian market, General Manager of the company in Cairo, Atsushi Hirakuri, told Daily News Egypt.
Sojitz Corporation was the first Japanese company to start businesses in the market in 1892, Hirakuri added.
“At the beginning, our office worked in exporting Egyptian cotton to Japan. Now our activities in Egypt are diversified but our main activity is the oil industry,” Hirakuri mentioned.
He noted that his company entered Egypt’s oil sector in 2005 and it is successfully investing in this sector till today in coordination with the company’s partners.
“We are trying to find another investment opportunity. We are considering investment in sectors like agriculture, exporting, and supplying of Japanese equipment,” Hirakuri explained.
The company’s initial investment in Egypt amounted to $250m in 2005 and it reinvested other amounts of money over the years, Hirakuri asserted, noting that Egypt is an extremely promising market.
Sojitz Group consists of approximately 400 subsidiaries and affiliates located in Japan and throughout the world, developing wide-ranging general trading company operations in a multitude of countries and regions, according to the company’s website.
Furthermore, Sojitz Corporation asked the Egyptian government to arrange a meeting with the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Central Unit, affiliated to the Ministry of Finance to consider cooperation opportunities, Hirakuri said.
“We have PPP’s know-how as well as the financial capability so we can bring the private finance to projects of interest. We will commence the brainstorming in these investments in the future and we proposed a meeting with the Egyptian government in this regard,” Hirakuri reassured.
Sojitz Corporation doesn’t hire many employees due to the nature of its sector, Hirakuri said, noting that only 10 persons are working at the company’s Egypt office.
“Over the past 10 years the economic indicators in Egypt were fluctuating and affected by some political events in the country, but now economic conditions are improving and we are very optimistic about the future of the business in the country,” Hirakuri mentioned.
Egypt’s investment climate is very flexible, yet the legal framework needs to be improved and a more business-friendly environment can be created in Egypt through dialogue, Hirakuri asserted.
“We haven’t decided yet the additional amount of investment that we will inject as it depends on the sector that we will enter,” Hirakuri noted, adding that Sojitz Corporation has a crude oil concession in cooperation with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).
Sojitz Corporation implements a Medium-term Management Plan 2020, according to the company’s website. Accordingly, the company will continue initiatives on the growth track put by Medium-Term Management Plan 2017, while utilising the assets acquired to expand earnings foundations and realise steady growth.
The company will strengthen Sojitz’s functions to develop a cycle for ongoing growth to facilitate future expansion and strive to improve corporate value.
