CAIRO: In May, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told a visiting US trade delegation that the total value of American investments in Egypt in the fiscal year 2021-22 was $24 billion.
He said that this amount represented an increase of about $15 billion over the figure for the same period in 2020-21, and the investments were concentrated mainly in the fields of energy, petrochemicals, infrastructure, tourism, agriculture and industry.
At the time, Madbouly called on American companies to form partnerships with the Egyptian government and invest in the energy sector and green projects.
He pledged that authorities in his country would provide all possible support and assistance to encourage such investments, in line with the government’s economic strategy for private-sector partnerships.
Egyptian and American businessmen participate in a dialogue in this file photo. (Twitter: @amcham_egypt)
During his visit to the Middle East (July 13-16), US President Joe Biden is expected to meet with his Egyptian counterpart in Riyadh. The face-to-face meeting offers President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi an important opportunity to discuss increased US investment in Egypt.
The US is a major strategic partner for Egypt, and Cairo aims to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation with Washington, according to Medhat El-Bassiouni, an Egyptian economist.
Speaking to Arab News, he said the visit by a US trade delegation to Cairo in May was a reflection of the strength of Egyptian-American relations, and that US investments are expected to increase in the energy, communications and infrastructure sectors.
The US delegation included representatives of 40 companies operating in a variety of fields.
During their visit, which was hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo, they discussed investment opportunities in clean projects covering sectors such as energy, education, health and waste recycling.
According to El-Bassiouni, despite the effects of the pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine, Egypt expects a breakthrough in the coming year in terms of overseas investment, especially from the US.
He said the Egyptian government is currently focusing on clearing the way for more foreign investment, direct and indirect, whether through government cooperation or by allowing private-sector companies to participate in investment projects in which Americans are the major partner.
Omar Muhanna, head of the Egyptian side of the Egyptian-American Business Council, also predicted growth in the levels of US investment and said that El-Sisi’s meeting with Biden this month will help to support this. He added that reforms undertaken by Egypt have created more opportunities for foreign investors.
The existing growth in American investment is a positive sign of US support for the Egyptian market, Muhanna said, and he predicted that cooperation between the two countries will be further enhanced, perhaps after COP 27, the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference, which will be hosted by Sharm El-Sheikh in November, and that future investments would be concentrated in the green economy.
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