Nevine Gamea, Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, stated that the UAE is Egypt’s largest trade partner in the Middle East, noting that the size of the trade exchange between the two countries amounted to $4.11 billion in 2020, rising from $3.356 billion in 2019.

During her meeting with the UAE Ambassador to Egypt and the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League, Dr Hamad Saeed Al Shamsi, she said that the value of Egyptian exports to the Emirati market totalled around $2.88 billion in 2020, as compared to $2.21 billion in 2019. The UAE is the largest investor in the Egyptian market with projects exceeding $7 million in value.

The sides discussed ways of enhancing ties between their countries and reinforcing collaboration in different areas, particularly in economic and investment sectors.

Gamea highlighted the importance of building on the solid bilateral ties between the two countries and establishing large-scale joint projects that would benefit their peoples and economies.

Al Shamsi stressed the UAE’s keenness to strengthen cooperation with Egypt, especially with the strategic and historic ties already in place. The UAE-Egypt bilateral ties saw significant development in previous years, especially in the economic and trade sectors, he added.

He commended the significant development seen in Egypt under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, including giant projects and initiatives, most notably the New Administrative Capital project.

Al Shamsi highlighted the success of the Egyptian government in containing the COVID-19 pandemic without having to implement a full lockdown, adding that Egypt’s experience in addressing the pandemic is a unique one that many countries seek to emulate to maintain business continuity and achieve positive growth in indexes.

WAM