The CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), Hossam Heiba, met with the Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Helene Budliger Arteda, on Tuesday, to discuss the Egyptian-Swiss economic relations and the investment opportunities in Egypt. The meeting was also attended by the Swiss Ambassador to Egypt, Yvonne Baumann.
Budliger Arteda proposed to establish a joint economic committee between Egypt and Switzerland, as a way of enhancing the cooperation with their strategic partners. She also expressed the Swiss business community’s interest in investing and expanding in the Egyptian market, which has a value of about $1.2bn and provides about 25,000 jobs in various sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, food, building materials, chemicals, and energy.
Budliger Arteda pointed out that there are promising areas of cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of environmental industrial zones, green hydrogen, and transportation and logistics, as Switzerland is one of the leading countries in the technological development of these fields.
Heiba said that the meeting was an important step to improve the economic relations between the two countries, and that there is a great potential to deepen the cooperation, increase the Swiss investments, and transfer the Swiss expertise and technology to Egypt. He said that the Egyptian government aims to localise the transportation industry to keep pace with the investment boom in this sector.
Heiba also introduced the role of GAFI in promoting investment, establishing companies, managing free zones, solving investor problems, and offering various investment systems, such as free zones, investment zones, and technology zones. He also presented the opportunities available on Egypt’s investment map, the government’s efforts to improve the investment environment and support the private sector, and the economic reform measures in Egypt, such as the issuance of the state ownership document, the golden licence, and the electronic incorporation system.
