Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour met with the British-Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) to discuss methods of promoting investment and trade between both countries, according to a statement released by the ministry Monday.
Egyptian president of BEBA Hesham Mekkawy stated that the plans for next year will focus on encouraging British small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to enter four main sectors of the Egyptian market: information and communications technology (ICT), logistic services, textiles, and food and beverages.
Abdel Nour stated that the field of e-commerce is growing in importance worldwide and must be emphasised in Egypt as well, where British expertise in the ICT sector would be a significant help in encouraging banks to use online payment.
Mekkawy also stated that preparations are underway for sending a promotional mission to the United Kingdom by the beginning of March in order to promote trade and investment between both countries in the aforementioned four sectors. This would be the first such promotional visit since 30 June, he said.
Abdel Nour added that the UK is one of Egypt’s most important trading and political partners, and is the second largest foreign direct investor in Egyptian markets. Egyptian exports to Britain increased by 4.9% between January 2012 and June 2013, the first increase of its kind since the 25 January Revolution, he said.
