On November 9, the inaugural China-Egypt Investment Forum was held in Cairo, Egypt. Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Ling Ji, Ambassador Liao Liqiang of the People’s Republic of China to Egypt, as well as Egyptian dignitaries including Hassan Elkhatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Mohamed M. Abou El Enein, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Magd El-Din Al-Manzalawi, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association, attended the event and delivered remarks. Nearly 400 representatives from Chinese and Egyptian enterprises and business associations participated in the forum.
Ling Ji stated that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Egypt economic and trade relations have steadily advanced in a steady and sound manner. He emphasized that the launch of the China-Egypt Investment Forum constitutes a concrete step toward implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two nations. China stands ready to deepen alignment of development strategies with Egypt, strengthen cooperation along industrial and supply chains, consolidate cooperation in traditional sectors such as textiles, home appliances, equipment manufacturing, and petrochemicals, seize cooperation opportunities in such emerging sectors as photovoltaics, wind power, and new energy vehicles, and further unlock the potential for collaboration in future-oriented fields including information technology, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and smart cities—thereby promoting high-quality development of bilateral investment cooperation.
Elkhatib noted that China is Egypt’s largest trading partner and key source of foreign investment. He highlighted that the China-Egypt Investment Forum provides a good platform to deepen trade and investment cooperation and facilitate matchmaking of new projects. Reaffirming Egypt’s commitment to free trade and openness, he underscored the government’s ongoing efforts to improve the business environment—enhancing access to land and electricity, and streamlining customs clearance procedures. He expressed Egypt’s strong interest in attracting more Chinese investment in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and digital economy, and announced that the Egyptian government has established an inter-ministerial task force dedicated to facilitating Chinese investment.
The forum featured vibrant exchanges and active matchmaking sessions. The Egyptian investment authorities hosted a roundtable dialogue on investment policies, where specialized agencies and Chinese enterprises engaged in in-depth discussions. Three thematic sub-forums were also convened, focusing respectively on textiles and apparel, machinery/electrical equipment and new energy, and digital economy. Chinese enterprises expressed that Egypt’s business environment has continued to improve in recent years, its geographic advantages are significant, and investment opportunities are broad and promising. They welcomed the timely convening of the forum and affirmed their readiness to seize favorable opportunities for investment in Egypt.
On the sidelines of the forum, Vice Minister Ling Ji and Hossam Heiba, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, co-chaired the inaugural meeting of the China-Egypt Investment Cooperation Working Group.