Sunday 22 Dec
Engineer Hassan Al-Khatib, Egypt’s Minister of Investment and International Trade, participated in a high-level roundtable meeting hosted by the Malaysian Embassy in Cairo. The meeting was attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Foreign Minister Mohamed Hassan, and Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, alongside key representatives from Egyptian and Malaysian businesses.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim lauded the longstanding and deep-rooted relationship between Egypt and Malaysia. He expressed his nation's commitment to strengthening bilateral ties across various sectors, including trade, industry, investment, education, scientific research, and tourism. He highlighted Egypt's attractive investment climate and the government's ongoing efforts to facilitate business operations.
Anwar Ibrahim emphasized Egypt's
strategic position as a major Arab and African nation, offering significant
investment opportunities. He noted Malaysia's interest in exploring new areas
of cooperation, such as digital transformation, energy, and the semiconductor
industry.
Minister Al-Khatib affirmed that
the Malaysian Prime Minister's visit presents a valuable opportunity to bolster
investment, trade, and industrial cooperation between the two countries. He
underscored Egypt's favorable investment climate, particularly given the
government's focus on private sector-led economic growth.
Al-Khatib outlined Egypt's
aspiration to become a regional export hub and its efforts to attract and
expand Malaysian investments. He highlighted the government's recent reforms in
monetary, fiscal, trade, and tax policies, designed to streamline procedures
for investors and businesses.
The Minister emphasized Egypt's
competitive advantages, including its strategic location, skilled labor force,
competitive wages, abundant land and industrial zones, and participation in
numerous free trade agreements.
On the sidelines of the
roundtable, Minister Al-Khatib met with his Malaysian counterpart, Tengku
Zafrul Abdul Aziz, in the presence of Hossam Heiba, Chairman of the General
Authority for Investment. The meeting focused on investment opportunities and
strategies to attract more Malaysian projects to Egypt, as well as reviewing
ongoing Malaysian investments and exploring expansion avenues.
The Malaysian side expressed interest in potential cooperation in semiconductor manufacturing. Both sides agreed to reactivate the joint Egyptian-Malaysian committee early next year to further enhance investment and cooperation opportunities between the two countries.
