Ambassador of Japan Noke Masaki and Chief Executive Director of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, co-chaired an inaugural session of the “Egypt-Japan Business and Investment Promotion Committee”.
Both sides had fruitful discussions on ways to enhance their bilateral business and investment relationship, a statement by the Embassy said on Thursday.
The establishment of this committee was first announced during the meeting between President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Abe Shinzo, then prime minister of Japan, which was held on the sideline of the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7) in August 2019.
During the meeting, after both chairmen confirmed the purpose and the structure of the committee, participants discussed business and investment experiences in Egypt based on the presentations given by Japanese Businessmen Association (JBA), Japanese companies operating in Egypt (Toyota Tsusho, Nissan Motor Egypt, Sumitomo Electrical Wiring Systems Egypt (SEWS), and Saraya), Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) and GAFI.
The Japanese side explained what they have achieved in Egypt while presenting some challenges they face in their activities, the statement said.
GAFI explained the measures they have taken to encourage more investment from Japan and introduced possible business opportunities for Japanese companies.
In the meeting, Egyptian companies (Elaraby Group, Elsewedy Electric, Orascom Construction, and Hassan Allam Holding) gave presentations and expressed their interests in possible collaborations with Japanese companies for their operations including outside Egypt such as Africa, the statement added.
“Today’s inaugural session was very useful to confirm the great potential of Egyptian economy and identify issues to encourage further Japanese investment with regard to industrial policy, regulations, incentives, etc,” the Japanese ambassador said.
“It was also interesting to learn the experience of collaboration between Egyptian and Japanese companies in Egypt and in other countries in the Middle East and Africa. I hope this committee will give impetus for creating more desire among Japanese companies to invest in Egypt,” he added.
Counselor Abdel-Wahab said that this committee would serve as an important platform for Japanese companies to get a better understanding of existing and potential business and investment opportunities in Egypt and with Egyptian companies. He added that GAFI is ready to put every effort to support Japanese business and investment activities in Egypt, according to the statement.
The next meeting is expected to be held before the TICAD 8 in Tunis in 2022, the statement added.
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