Egypt will host the first meeting of the higher committee of the integrated industrial partnership that comprises Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates on Monday.
The trade and industry ministers of the three countries will head the higher committee meeting, according to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Executive committee meetings will take place in Cairo between the delegations of the three countries on Saturday and Sunday to prepare a report for the higher committee.
Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE launched their industrial partnership initiative late in May during a visit by a delegation from the Egyptian government headed by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi.
As part of the initiative, the UAE’s government announced that it is allocating an investment fund of $10 billion for joint projects with Egypt and Jordan.
The fund will be run by Abu Dhabi Development Holding (ADQ) to support and accelerate the projects arising from the initiative.
In this regard, Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea said the meetings this week will tackle agreements on a number of projects in many production sectors.
This includes agriculture, food, fertilisers, and pharmaceutical industries as well as promoting trade and economic ties between the three countries, she said.
The past period witnessed intensive meetings at the level of the executive committee to outline a mechanism for implementing the integrated partnership between the three countries, Gamea noted.
The partnership's first phase includes a number of projects in the fields of grain production, animal production, food processing, fertilisers, packaging, and the production of alternative medicines, she said.
This is in addition to the production of textiles, silica, and aluminium smelting using renewable energy, she added.
In a meeting with the premier in June, El-Sisi underlined the importance of the three-way cooperation with Jordan and the UAE, saying the partnership initiative manifests the hoped-for goal of achieving Arab economic integration.
Gamea held a virtual meeting last month with Emirati Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber and Jordanian Minister of Industry Trade and Supply Yousef Al-Shamali to follow up on the recent agreement.
During their meeting, they agreed on forming an executive committee to start its meetings with the business community next week to discuss the mechanism for involving the private sector in the three countries in the partnership initiative and to identify a list of eligible companies.
In a statement following the meeting, Gamea said the three countries are keen to put the initiative into practice and start implementing the desired projects.
Egypt, the UAE and Jordan are committed to providing all necessary support for the private sectors in the three countries so as to execute the proposed ventures, Gamea added, stressing that the countries will roll out measures to remove any bumps in the way of the capital flow and intra-trade movement.
The newly-launched initiative focuses on several strategic sectors, most importantly pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food, petrochemicals, metals, minerals, and textiles with the aim of achieving sustainable economic development and supporting industrial integration between the three Arab nations.
The partnership aims to achieve self-sufficiency in the three countries and ensure food and health security and is also expected to provide industrial opportunities with added economic value estimated at billions of dollars in the near future.
The combined GDP of Egypt, the UAE, and Jordan is approximately $800 billion, Emirati Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber said in May.
The three countries are rich in different resources that can be promoted through this new partnership, he added.
