On Tuesday, 7 August, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with American business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. According to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, Minister Shoukry highlighted Egypt’s economic progress and “pointed out that the strategic partnership between Egypt and the United States entails boosting cooperation between the two sides in the various economy sectors.” Abu Zeid also said Minister Shoukry told participants that Egypt’s “reform measures are bearing fruit, as the country’s economic growth rate has increased, the unemployment rate has fallen, and foreign exchange reserves have increased,” and that Egypt’s new investment law “creates a favorable environment for investment in Egypt.”

Meeting participants included “managers and representatives of the major American companies investing or wishing to invest in Egypt, such as Apache Corporation, Exxon Mobil, Honeywell, MetLife, Cargill, [and] Lockheed Martin.”

Earlier this month, Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar announced that a delegation of representatives from 60 major U.S. companies will visit Egypt later this year to explore investment opportunities throughout Egypt. The upcoming visit of U.S. companies is being organized by the American Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Egyptian-American Business Council.

For more, see the statement from Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs below.

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Shoukry Meets Members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
7 August 2018
Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, said that Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry participated today August 7th in a working lunch organized by the US Chamber of Commerce, attended by the managers and representatives of the major American companies investing or wishing to invest in Egypt, such as Apache Corporation, Exxon Mobil, Honeywell, MetLife, Cargill, Lockheed Martin, etc. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was keen to review the features of the economic reform program adopted by the Egyptian government in order to improve the economic environment in Egypt so as to become more stable and attractive to foreign investments. In this context, he tackled means to promote trade and investment between the two countries so as to serve the interests of both countries and peoples, while calling on businessmen to increase their investments in the country.

Shoukry also pointed out that the strategic partnership between Egypt and the United States entails boosting cooperation between the two sides in the various economy sectors and is not only limited to energy and oil, while reviewing the new investment law, which creates a favorable environment for investment in Egypt, in addition to the enactment of a new civil service law in order to upgrade the level of employees in the state administrative apparatus, and a new law for capital markets, which facilitates investors’ procedures to engage in new projects.

Abu Zeid added that Minister Shoukry explained that the Egyptian government currently attaches priority to upgrading the health and education sectors, which in turn leads to the upgrading of the workforce to be able to adapt to competition in light of the global economy challenges. He pointed out that these reform measures are bearing fruit, as the country’s economic growth rate has increased, the unemployment rate has fallen, and foreign exchange reserves have increased. The Minister also reviewed the national projects currently being implemented by the Egyptian government, especially the new administrative capital project and infrastructure projects in the field of transport, noting that the Suez Canal Area development project is one of the major mega-projects that will transform Egypt into a regional and international hub for trade and industry. Shoukry called on businessmen to establish a US economic zone in the industrial zone of the Suez Canal Area. He also stressed that Egypt aims to be a regional energy hub, following the discovery of large reserves of marine gas in the eastern Mediterranean, in addition to plans for making Egypt a platform for the exportation of clean and renewable energy from Africa to Europe.

Abu Zeid noted that a large number of representatives of the American private sector and members of the Chamber hailed the tremendous progress achieved on the course of implementing the economic and financial reform program in Egypt, as the country witnesses a quantum leap and a genuine boom as a result of the implementation of a number of national mega-projects which represent a major attraction for foreign investments, pointing to the remarkable progress made recently by the state, which was attested by the international financial institutions.

The meeting also discussed at length the ways to enhance and support cooperation relations between Egypt and the United States, as Shoukry reviewed all aspects of the Egyptian-American relations, noting that they are of a strategic nature and represent the cornerstone of stability and peace in the region, and reflect the two sides’ awareness of the importance of such relationship and the need to provide it with all support elements. The Foreign Minister also reviewed Egypt successes in countering terrorism.