Egypt urged India to develop a strategic partnership between the two countries with a view to boost bilateral trade and investments covering important fields like ICT, energy and industry.
The visiting Egyptian President, Mohammed Hosny Mubarak while addressing industry conclave organized by three leading apex bodies ? FICCI, CII and Assocham ? in New Delhi on Monday said: “We have all what it takes to give a renewed momentum to our strategic partnership and all what it takes to bring our trade and investments to new horizons, especially in the important fields of ICT, energy and industry.”
He said that trade between India and Egypt had tripled in the last 4 years reaching about $3.5 million in 2007. “We have managed to diversify our trade to cover a wide range of goods and I am sure there is room for further expansion”, he said adding that Indian direct investments in Egypt stood at around $800 million in more than 200 Egyptian companies.
“The potential is for these investments to reach $2 billion in the coming few years.
Such Indian investments cover a wide range of areas in industry, services, ICT, construction, financing, agriculture, oil and gas as well as tourism”, the Egyptian President said.
He emphasized that Egypt had witnessed a remarkable economic transformation process. “The reforms we have pursued have reflected positively in our macro-economic indicators. Egypt has emerged as one of the leading economies in Africa and Middle East and is ranked as the most attractive destination for foreign direct investments in its region”, said Mubarak.
He allured the Indian investors by saying that Egypt had become a hub in West Asia and the Arab world. Through trade agreements with the European Union and COMESA, Egypt had become an important gateway to the vast European and African markets and an attractive destination for foreign direct investment.
Speaking on the occasion, the Indian minister for commerce and industry, Kamal Nath also emphasized the need for closer trade and economic ties between India and Egypt since the two countries equally share the pride of ancient civilizations. India prefers Egypt and gets similar treatment from it not only on trade front but also in areas of business and economic relations. Therefore, the two countries should strive harder to achieve the two-way trade as per their potential.
Nath identified possible areas for cooperation like in steel, construction, tractors and agricultural equipment, pumps and diesel engines, pharmaceuticals, tourism, auto components, information technology, phosphatic and nitrogen fertilizers, hotel management, textiles, biotechnology and use of natural gas in cars.. He further added that Egypt had traditionally been one of India’s most important trading partners in the African continent and Egypt alone accounted for almost 40% of India’s trade with northern Africa.
He welcomed the Egyptian proposal for establishing an Indian Industrial Zone in Egypt exclusively for Indian companies. He further added that Egypt’s strategic location would be India’s gateway to the 20-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the 27-nation European Union and the Arab Free Trade Area.
“Companies like Ranbaxy, Kiroloskar, Dabur, Ashok Leyland, and Essel already have an investment presence in Egypt. I am sure that with these investments, India could well emerge among the top ten foreign investors in Egypt”, Nath said.
During 2007-08, India’s exports to Egypt have been to the tune of $1396.23 million as compared to $760.41 million during the year 2006-07. Imports (including oil imports) during the same period were $1982.77 million as compared to $1741.65 million during the year 2006-07. The top Indian export items included frozen meat, cotton yarn and synthetic yarn, rice, diesel, tobacco, electrical machinery, soybean, chemicals, automobiles and components, sugar, pharmaceuticals and tea. Nearly 95% of Egypt’s exports to India comprised of oil and gas. Coking coal, raw cotton, rock phosphate, and marble made up the balance 5%.
Speaking on the occasion, immediate past president of Assocham, Anil K Agarwal hoped that the two-way trade between India and Egypt would gallop and exceed more than the projected $2 billion in next few years. According to him, apart from communication, technology, industry, India and Egypt needs to intensify their trade relations in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.
In his address, the past president of CII, N Kumar, said that both India and Egypt had highly developed textile and garment industry. Egypt imports a large part of the requirement of man-made fibres for its textile and garment industries from India. Such imports have significant potential to expand, given the rapid growth of the garment industry in Egypt.
In his observation, the past president of FICCI, Onkar S Kanwar also hoped that by 2010, India and Egypt should achieve $5 billion trade target which should further go up to $10 billion by 2014.