Today, in New Delhi, President Abel Fattah El-Sisi participated in an expanded meeting with the CEOs of major Indian companies and businessmen. The meeting was also attended by Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, and a number of senior Indian officials and representatives of various concerned government agencies, major federations and chambers of commerce and industry in India, in the presence of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Electricity and Renewable Energy, Planning and Economic Development, and Communications and Information Technology.
The Spokesmen for the Presidency said that President El-Sisi welcomed meeting with the members of the business and trade community in India, which embodies the spirit of distinguished cooperation between the two countries. He also stressed Egypt’s keenness to further develop economic and trade cooperation with Indian companies, as well as joint investments to contribute to supporting the economic development process in Egypt, within the framework of joint action to leverage mutual interests and make the best use of available opportunities.
President El-Sisi also commended the positive developments in the economic and trade relations between the two countries over the past period. The President highlighted the various investment opportunities offered by the mega-projects being implemented in Egypt, particularly the development of the Suez Canal area, which includes a number of major industrial and logistic zones. This provides promising opportunities for Indian companies wishing to take advantage of Egypt's strategic location as a center for production and re-export of products to various countries, many of which are linked to Egypt by free trade agreements, particularly in the Arab region and Africa.
The President further stressed that the resilience shown recently by the Egyptian economy in various development sectors reflects the State’s strong will to achieve sustainable development. The President noted the distinguished friendship between the two countries is a true umbrella for supporting efforts to develop cooperation in various economic fields through the necessary political will to do so, adding that Egypt is ready to achieve industrial integration with Indian companies and promote their growth through the establishment of successful partnerships based on the localization of industries.
The Indian minister of commerce and businessmen expressed their pleasure to meet with President El-Sisi at this important event. The Egyptian-Indian Business Roundtable represents a great opportunity to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two countries. They looked forward to exploring the possibilities of maximizing cooperation, particularly in the pharmaceutical, communications, information technology and defense industries sectors as well as the infrastructure, petroleum and natural gas, new and renewable electricity and energy, in addition to taking advantage of the benefits granted by the Suez Canal Economic Zone, also strengthening trade between the two countries in agricultural products.
The attendees from the Indian side also praised the President for closely following-up on the measures taken to facilitate the work of Indian companies in Egypt and noted the robustness and resilience of the Egyptian economy, supported by the government’s efforts and measures to enhance the pace of the development process, especially with the implementation of several mega national projects that would present Egypt as a key development partner on the international arena.
The President engaged in an open dialogue with senior Indian businessmen, who welcomed intensifying cooperation with Egypt to achieve common interests. This is while reviewing their plans to invest in Egypt and stressing the importance of strengthening communication between representatives of the private sector in the two countries to encourage leading Indian companies to promote their investments, explore new investment opportunities and continue advancing economic activity in Egypt, as well as advancing bilateral economic and trade relations to broader horizons that fulfil the aspirations of the two peoples.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, The Arab Republic of Egypt.
