Egypt’s return to JPMorgan government bond index reflects foreign investors’ confidence in economy’s solidity: British Ambassador
Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait affirmed his ministry’s keenness to enhance aspects of cooperation with international partners who have great experience in the field of minting and circulating commemorative coins.
He said that such cooperation must contribute to the localisation of distinguished global expertise, deepening local production, along with developing human capabilities and expanding the use of technical and technological solutions in a manner consistent with the government’s policy that supports the national industry and stimulates economic activity.
This came during a meeting with representatives of the British Royal Mint in the presence of the British Ambassador in Cairo Gareth Bailey, Deputy Minister for the Public Treasury Ehab Abu Eish, head of the Public Treasury and Mint Hossam Khader, Adviser to the Minister for Engineering Affairs Sherif Hazem, and Adviser to the Minister for External Relations Hossam Hussein.
“We look forward to deepening cooperation between the Egyptian and British sides in the field of minting — which extends for many years — in a way that contributes to maximising the benefit of the capabilities of the treasury and the Egyptian mintage, which is one of only two places at the level of the African continent and the Middle East specialised in coinage in order to cover the needs of local and regional markets with high quality,” said Maait.
On his part, Khader reviewed the department’s current capabilities and the development plan aiming to expand production, deepen the local component, and ensure the quality of work, pointing out that the meeting witnessed the discussion of a project to produce coins with local components through a factory or production line in the Suez Canal Economic Zone with the aim of pumping new investments and then exporting to Africa and the Middle East.
Furthermore, Hazem said that the British side presented several alternatives for technical cooperation during the next stage to develop production lines and increase production capacity to cover local and regional markets within the framework of permanent and continuous cooperation between the two countries in various fields, highlighting the relative advantages of investing in Egypt in terms of its geographical proximity to Arab and African markets, the availability of qualified labour, and the energy needed for production, in addition to the various commercial agreements that guarantee the access of products manufactured in Egypt to neighbouring regional markets.
Additionally, the British ambassador in Cairo congratulated Egypt for its return to the JP Morgan Index of government bonds in emerging markets, which reflects the confidence of foreign investors in the solidity of the Egyptian economy and its ability to deal flexibly with global challenges, expressing his country’s aspiration to enhance aspects of cooperation with the Egyptian side in various fields, including the minting of coins, especially in the unprecedented renaissance Egypt is witnessing, which contributes to laying the foundations for comprehensive and sustainable development.
