Mohieldin, Indian Diplomat on Boosting Economic Ties

Means to boost Egyptian-Indian economic relations were reviewed when the Minister of Investment, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, received the Indian Ambassador to Egypt, R. Swaminathan.

According to the minister, more efforts are needed to increase India's investments in Egypt in light of this Asian country's mammoth economic development.

Egypt-India economic cooperation needs to be broadened by virtue of the two countries' historical and political bonds, the extraordinary relations between the leaders of both nations and the visits exchanged by senior officials; the latest was made by President Hosni Mubarak to India in Nov. 2008.

The meeting reviewed the results of those visits, the situation of India's projects in Egypt as well as the expansion of opportunities, particularly in services, technology & electronic industries, the communication sectors and other kinds of industries.

Mr. Swaminathan showed interest in pushing Indian corporations to boost their investments in Egypt thanks to Egypt's promising market and political and geographical weight, especially in the sectors mastered by the Indian business community.

The Indian official said the coming period would witness more Indian expansions and investment missions.

The two officials agreed on a number of pivots of the executive blueprint that aims at enhancing joint investments and exchanging investment missions as well as information and technical expertise. The goal is to boost Egypt-India economic and investment cooperation at the bilateral and regional levels.

India, the 35th largest investor in Egypt, and its business corporations were invited to participate in the 3rd COMESA Investment Forum in Egypt mid April.

From 1970 to Feb. 2010, 295 Indian companies were founded in Egypt, 175 of which were set up in the past five years alone. They constitute 59 percent of total Indian businesses here.