Egyptian business delegation visited BCCI

A delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt Yaha Ahmed visited the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The meeting was attended by the managing board of the BCCI, branch organizations and members of the Chamber, as well as representatives of the ministries of energy, transport and the Investment agency of Egypt. The forum was also attended by the ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Bulgaria, H.E. Khalid Ibrahim Emara and councilors from the Embassy in Sofia.

The President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tsvetan Simeonov stated that the economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Egypt had come a long way, bringing off excellent results and building customary partnerships. Simeonov drew attention to the fact that taxes in the country were low with regions of 0% corporate tax because of the high unemployment,

The President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry presented the members of the Chamber, about 55,000 companies and trade representations, producing 50% of the country's GDP and 87% of the exports.

His Excellency Khalid Emara shared that the Embassy of Egypt was in very close working relations with the BCCI. This is the second visit of 2023 of an Egyptian business delegation at level government and business companies. The Ambassador stated that common interests lay in the sectors of artificial intelligence, renewable energy, hydrogen production, automotive industry, etc. "Egypt can be the logistics and transport center of Bulgarian business to the African market," he said.

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt Yaha Ahmed pointed out that Egypt was looking for ways to diversify the bilateral economic relations with Bulgaria by focusing on investments, industry, tourism, trade. The two countries have strong historical ties, as Egypt was the first Arab country to establish relations with Bulgaria in 1926. Trade between the two countries is growing, with 30 Bulgarian companies working in Egypt.

Mr. Tarek Mostafa, Investor Relations General Manager in the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone (SC zone) made a presentation of the advantages and the possibilities the Zone could offer.

Further, the meeting focused on the development of the automotive sector in Bulgaria and Egypt. Deputy Minister Ahmed stated that Egypt had a strategy for the introduction and development of hydrogen technologies and a strategy for enhancing the car production in the country. Common interests were also found in the fields of green technologies, renewable energy and biotechnology, highly appreciated by the Egyptian delegation for the rapid development of the Bulgarian companies in these sectors.

The Bulgarian participants in the meeting were introduced to the Arab Industrial Organization, established in 1975 by four countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar as an industrial hub for new technologies.

At the end of the Forum the participants - representatives of the Bulgarian companies and the members of the Egyptian delegation were provided time for dialogue and constructive conversations.