CAIRO - 2 November 2022: Trade exchange between Egypt and Italy recorded €3.029 billion during 2021, of which €1.442 billion are Egyptian exports, according to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ahmed Samir.

 

Samir said that there are many opportunities to enhance joint cooperation between both countries in many fields.

 

This came during a session of talks with the Italian ambassador in Cairo, Michael Caron, to discuss the future of economic and investment cooperation between Egypt and Italy.

 

He pointed out that Italy is one of the largest investing countries in the Egyptian market, with total investments that amounted in April 2022 to about €1.707 billion in more than 1,233 projects operating in the industrial, agricultural, tourism, services, construction, information technology and financial services sectors.

 

According to the minister, the Al-Rubiki Leather City project is one of the most important cooperation projects with the Italian side, as the ministry wants to use Italian expertise to implement the third phase of the Al-Rubiki project, which includes the establishment of 100 factories for finished leather products, in order to take advantage of the incentive packages offered by the government to invest in this major project.

 

He pointed out the ministry's keenness on the participation of major Italian companies specialized in the leather industry in the Robeki city project to localize the industry, especially since the city has a technological center at the highest level and is equipped with the latest Italian equipment and machinery.

 

“These repercussions represent an opportunity to enhance trade and investment relations between the two countries, especially in light of Egypt's keenness on deepening the local industry and using advanced expertise to achieve an industrial boom,” Samir added.

 

For his part, the Italian ambassador to Cairo said that his country allocated €10 million of funding for cooperation projects with Egypt.

 

Caron elaborated that part of the amount is allocated to the second phase of the Leather City in Al-Rubiki and the second phase of the Shaq El-Taban area, pointing to the Italian side's interest in strengthening cooperation with Egypt in the field of furniture industry, especially the Furniture City in Damietta.

 

He emphasized his country’s keenness to strengthen cooperation with Egypt, especially in light of the crises that swept the world recently, the latest of which was the crisis of the Russian-Ukrainian war and its economic repercussions on the European market in general and the Italian market in particular, which included the rise in energy prices. “This led to a decline in productivity rates and the suspension of some factories.”