Egypt Seeks Investment from China

“The rising Egypt is looking forward to expanding partnership with China， and I will give full support for trade and investment cooperation between the two nations，” said Mohammad Morsi， President of Egypt on August 29 in Beijing， during his first visit to China after the inauguration.

Morsi made the remarks at the China-Egypt Business Forum co-held by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Egyptian Embassy in China.

The forum was attended by an Egyptian business delegation of 80 and 200 Chinese businessmen， as well as seven ministers of the Egyptian government. This was the largest Egyptian business delegation that has ever visited China.

The event was aimed to boost Chinese investment in Egypt in fields such as logistics， telecommunications， and infrastructure.

President pledges full support

China was the first nation outside the Middle East that Morsi had visited after he was elected President of Egypt. The visit was believed to be of great importance， after the political uproar in the African nation.

Morsi said that the situation in Egypt is now stable， and investment opportunities are many. Besides， Egypt is an important gateway through which Chinese enterprises could expand in the Middle East and Africa. Egypt will provide necessary logistical services and good environment for Chinese enterprises investing in Africa， especially in North Africa. It will also clear the way for the technology transfer from China to Egypt.

He added that Egypt wants to strengthen cooperation with China， and transfer Chinese technologies to Egypt. It seeks China’s help in the research and development of industrial and production technologies.

Bilateral trade and investment with great potential

“Despite the global recession in 2011， trade between China and Egypt reached$8.8 billion， an increase of 26% over 2010，”said Wan Jifei， President of CCPIT at the forum. “Trade and investment partnership between the two nations has a huge potential.”

There are 1133 Chinese companies that have registered and are operating in Egypt， according to Egyptian Minister of Investment Osama Saleh. China’s direct investment in Egypt stands at $500 million， mainly in fields of industrial manufacturing， tourism， construction， service， telecommunications and information technology.

“I hope Egypt’s economic revival plan catches the attention of Chinese enterprises，”said Saleh. The new Egyptian government is keen to boost investment from China and increase exports of agricultural products to China.

It is expected that in three years， Chinese investment will quadruple from the current $500 million to $2 billion， mainly in such fields as logistics， telecommunications， transportation and infrastructure.

Major projects for investment

Saleh also presented several key projects for Chinese companies to invest in， such as the construction of the Economic Zone northwest of the Gulf of Suez， the comprehensive development of East Port Said， and highway projects linking the south and north of Egypt.

“For these projects， Egypt hopes to learn from the experience of China in new energy and infrastructure construction， bringing huge opportunities for Chinese enterprises，” said Saleh.“Favorable tax and duty policies will be in place for investors.”

“This is the first time we have led such a big and diverse business delegation to China. We are bringing projects in energy， water conservancy， transportation， construction， medicine， textile and tourism，” said Hasan Malik， head of the Egyptian business delegation.

China’s Foreign Trade reporter learned from interviews with members of the delegation that most of them have already had partnerships with Chinese companies. Through this visit， they want to renew old ties interrupted by the political revolution in the past year and establish new ones.

All of the Egyptian businessmen interviewed thought investment from China which stands at $500 million was too little， and were optimistic about its potential of growth.

Most of them said the political revolution has affected their business badly. However， they said Egypt has regained stability， and were upbeat about the future.

A manager with Hainan Airlines told the reporter that flights from China to Egypt were cancelled as a result of the chaos in Egypt， and he still has to wait for tourism in Egypt to rebound before restarting the flights.