| Egyptian Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin is paying a three-day official visit to China that began Jan 27 to promote the two countries' trade and attract more Chinese investors to this ancient country in Africa.
Coming with the ministers are officials from the Ministry of Investment and corporation delegates. During the visit deals between Chinese and Egyptian corporations have been finalized.
China's investment in Egypt boasted strong performances in 2008 and 2009 against the global economic recession. Although the export sector suffered, the minister said he sees the general trend between the two countries as "more trade and more investment."
Currently there are 1,022 Chinese companies investing and operating in Egypt, and 85 percent of them have entered the promising market in the recent four years, the minister said during a meeting with media on Jan 28.
China now ranks as the 22nd biggest investor in Egypt, but the ranking can rise to the top 10 within three years, with the number of Chinese companies in Egypt expected to reach 1,500, the minister predicted.
The two countries enjoy prosperous bilateral trade while China has a great surplus over Egypt, in order to achieve a win-win situation the Egypt side is actively seeking a way of cooperation that can benefits both countries, and attracting Chinese investment is an important method, explained the minister.
Chinese investors are mainly engaged in construction, services, manufacturing and telecommunication sectors, as well as infrastructure projects, but the minister also expects that China's adapted technology for developing countries and technology for green energy can also join the investment force.
With the world focusing on environment, Egypt plans to replace 20 percent of their energy with renewable resources by 2020, so China's technology and experience in manufacturing equipments needed for wind farm and solar power could be a great boost, the minister said.
He said the financial sector is another important investment point.
Developing the Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is also a priority in the minister's China tour agenda. The five-square-kilometer zone is projected to be completed by 2020 and requires a total investment of $1.5 billion.
Tianjin and Suzhou, two legs of the minister's itinerary other than Beijing and Shanghai, both boasts well-developed economic zones, the minister said he will learn from the two cities and encourage the use of their development models for the trade zone in Egypt. |
