El-Sisi Meets Representatives from the Japanese Business Community and Heads of Major Companies

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with a delegation that included representatives from the Japanese business community and heads of major companies with the participation of a number of senior Japanese officials and representatives of the different government agencies concerned.

The Spokesman of the Egyptian Presidency stated that President El-Sisi welcomed this meeting that reflects the distinguished economic and trade cooperation with the confirmed that Egypt is keen to develop economic cooperation and trade with the Japanese business community in the coming period and to increase joint investments to support Egypt's economic development within the framework of a joint action for achieving mutual interests of both countries and making the best use of the available opportunities.

President El-Sisi lauded the positive developments in trade and economic ties between the two countries in the past few years in light of the exchanged visits by senior officials. The President also highlighted the diverse investment opportunities that mega projects offer in Egypt, mainly the Suez Canal Area Development Project, which encompasses a number of industrial and logistics zones. These all offer promising opportunities to Japanese companies that wish to benefit from Egypt's strategic location as a hub for production and re-export of products to the world countries with which Egypt has free trade agreements, particularly in the Arab region and Africa.

President El-Sisi confirmed that the significant strides Egypt has taken in various development sectors demonstrate the state's strong determination to achieve sustainable development as well as the Egyptian people's belief that they have plenty to offer to their international partners. For Japan, this means maximizing investment and opening new markets. The President noted that the strategic relations between the two countries is the real umbrella to support efforts to enhance economic cooperation through the availability of the political will necessary for that.

The Japanese businessmen expressed their happiness to meet with President to build on the existing friendship and cooperation. They looked forward to discussing the possibility of maximizing cooperation between the two countries with the availability of many promising investment opportunities in Egypt in the areas of tourism, information technology, construction and the manufacture of means of transportation and electrical devices. This is in addition to benefiting from Japan's experience and technology in this regard to establish joint projects to localize the industry in Egypt.

The Japanese delegation commended the President's personal interest in following up and facilitating procedures for the work of Japanese companies in Egypt. This is in addition to the significant improvement in the Egyptian economy backed by the government's development efforts and the implementation of mega national projects that present Egypt as an international partner for development at the international level.

The Japanese businessmen reviewed their plans for investment or expanding current business in many fields. They also stressed the importance of Egypt-Japan Business Council in continuing efforts to increase investment and trade and maintain contact between the private sector representatives in both countries to encourage the leading Japanese companies to invest and continue the economic mobility in Egypt. This is in addition to advancing bilateral economic relations to wider horizons commensurate with the aspirations of the two peoples.