Dr. Mohamed Farid Saleh, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade:
- We are building a verified database to inform trade and investment policies that support national economic growth.
- Deepening partnerships with international institutions enhances Egypt’s productive, manufacturing, and financial capacities.
- We discussed with EBRD ways to leverage artificial intelligence applications to analyze trade patterns and anticipate risks related to dumping or other export protection measures.
Mark Davis, EBRD Regional Managing Director for Southern and Eastern Mediterranean:
- The Egyptian economy remains stable despite regional disruptions, and we have ambitious plans for partnership and cooperation.
- Our collaboration spans foreign trade enhancement, capacity building, data analytics, and investment funds.
Dr. Mohamed Farid Saleh, The Minister of Investment and Free Zones (MIFT Minister) met with a delegation from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) led by Mr. Mark Davis, Executive Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region, with the participation from Ms. Reem EL Saady, AD Deputy Head of Egypt for Government Relations. The meeting focused on strengthening strategic partnership between both sides and expanding priority areas of cooperation to support economic development and enhance the attractiveness of the Egyptian market.
On the Egyptian side, participants included Dr. Ghada Nour, Deputy Minister for Investment Affairs, Promotion, and Government Offerings; Dr. Dalia El-Hawary, Deputy CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones; Mohamed Ayad, Advisor to MIFT; and Abed Mahran, Assistant Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade for Investment Climate Enhancement and Economic Competitiveness.
The meeting explored collaboration in several key areas, including institutional and technical capacity building within investment and trade authorities to improve efficiency and service quality for investors, alongside sharing best international practices.
Both sides also discussed ongoing efforts by MIFT to establish specialized investment funds, with participation from the sovereign fund, aimed at supporting productive sectors. Foremost among such sectors is the industrial sector, through financing production expansions and deepening local content, alongside exploring the launch of innovative fund models to support promising sectors such as sports and the related economy—helping diversify sources of growth—as well as funds linked to pharmaceutical research and development.
MIFT Minister emphasized that Egypt continues to expand ownership bases and increase private sector participation through public offerings of state-owned company shares, improving asset management efficiency, enhancing transparency, and attracting new domestic and foreign investments. He noted that such measures are a cornerstone of improving the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy.
As part of supporting the entrepreneurship ecosystem, the meeting explored avenues for cooperation in developing innovative financing mechanisms, including backing venture capital funds and activating Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), providing startups with better opportunities for growth and access to capital markets.
Furthermore, the meeting addressed strengthening cooperation in foreign trade and advanced data analytics, discussing how to leverage EBRD’s expertise in trade data cleansing and analysis to improve data quality and accuracy, and to establish early warning systems to detect practices that could negatively impact the competitiveness of Egyptian exports.
Additionally, both sides discussed the use of AI applications to analyze trade patterns and forecast risks related to trade measures, helping Egypt proactively protect national exports, comply with international standards, and enhance their access to global markets.
This comes in addition to cooperation in building national capacities in trade policy field, including safeguard measures in line with international trade rules, striking a balance between protecting domestic industry and enhancing export competitiveness.
Dr. Farid reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to deepening cooperation with international partners, particularly EBRD, to advance economic development, enhance the competitiveness of Egyptian Economy, and create an attractive and stable investment environment.
On his part, Mr. Mark Davis, EBRD Managing Director, affirmed the Bank’s commitment to continuing its support for Egypt by providing concessional financing and technical expertise, particularly in private sector development, the green transition, infrastructure, and the development of innovative financing tools, in support of the State’s development efforts.
He added: “The Egyptian economy remains stable despite regional disruptions, and we have ambitious plans for partnership and cooperation. This collaboration extends to strengthening foreign trade, capacity building, data analytics, and investment funds.”
