Egypt-Singapore Bilateral Economic Cooperation

Investment Minister, Mahmoud Mohieldin, and Singaporean Minister of Trade and Industry, Lim Hng Kiang, discussed in Singapore means and ways of enhancing the economic cooperation between the two countries and steps needed to kick off preliminary talks on the strategic frame of economic cooperation in fields of investment and trade.

The meeting, attended by representatives of the Economic Development Council in Singapore, also tackled how could Egypt benefit from Singapore's experiment with India in this regard.

Minster Mohieldin said investment opportunities in Egypt are attractive enough for Singaporean companies to consider, particularly in fields of financial services, logistic services, transportation and high value added manufacturing. This opens the gates for more Singaporean investments in Egypt.

The two officials focused on how improve performance of the Singaporean companies in Egypt and enlarge their footprints on the Egyptian market, particularly in infrastructure projects.

Minister Mohieldin also met with officials of some studies centers in Singapore. He held a meeting at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. It was attended by the Institute director and another top official. They introduced the Institute which studies the political and economic situations in East Asian countries and provides the necessary information for Singaporean decision makers.

The meeting tackled Egypt's relations with East Asian countries and how to enhance them in fields of investment and economic cooperation. It also discussed investment opportunities in Egypt and Africa in light Asian countries' growing interest in the Arab region.

Minister Mohieldin presented the economic developments in Egypt and relations with the Asian countries, as well as investment inflows from Asia to Egypt, which steadily increase.

Moreover, the minister held a meeting at the Institute of the Middle East Studies. It was attended by the Institute director and director of the South Asian Studies Institute.

They tackled the economic situations in Egypt and the Middle East and the fallouts from the global financial crisis on developing countries.

The minister talked in detail about the economic situations in Egypt, its economic policies and chances of cooperation between Egyptian and Singaporean research centers to feed the decision makers at the official level or the level of corporate with the required information.

Minister Mohieldin paid a visit to the School of Public Policy at the University of Singapore and met with top officials and experts. He discussed means and ways of cooperating with the School to improve the performance of leaders, experts and researchers in the Ministry of Investment and its affiliated agencies.

The focus is on the fields of economic polices and how to improve the performance of financial cadres like in sectors of insurance, mortgage finance and capita markets, plus the cooperation in field of financial and economic researches and studies.

The minister, who met with the University of Singapore's top officials, emphasized that Egypt is taking steps to cement its relations with Singapore in fields of investment and economic cooperation.

He said this needs support in fields of training, education and scientific research. He also referred to an expected cooperation between his ministry and the School of Public Policy in field of training and financial and economic studies.

The minister delivered a speech on the improvement of investment climate in Egypt and investment opportunities made available in field of infrastructure, in addition to development projects in provinces and labor-intensive projects. The lecture, organized by the Institute of the Middle East Studies, was attended by a number of public figures, representatives of ministries and economic entities, the Central Bank of Singapore, companies and financial institutions.

Mohieldin's word shed lights on the measures taken by the Egyptian Government to face the global financial crisis. He also talked about the details of the financial sector reform plan and its impacts on growth rate and development.

Mohieldin responded to the attendees' questions on the global financial crisis and how to face its impacts, and the Egyptian labor force and its ability to meet the economic growth requirements in the coming period. The attendees also asked Mohieldin about economic cooperation between Egypt and the African and Asian countries, ways to improve education and promote economic growth rates, and investment in information technology and renewable energy. The discussions also centered on investment opportunities in insurance and the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Mohieldin met with CEO and leaders of Temasek, a Singapore sovereign wealth fund (SWF) with investments of $134 billion. In light of Temasek's growing interest to invest in North Africa, Mohieldin discussed the available investment opportunities in Egypt, especially in infrastructure, other projects in different governorates, the North-West Suez Gulf Special Economic Zone, and projects related to the Upper Egypt-Red Sea Road. Minister Mohieldin added that the expected growth in trade between Asia and Africa makes Upper Egypt and the Red Sea region one of the best investment and development zones.

At the end of the visit, Mohieldin stressed the importance of bolstering relations with the Asian countries. He also referred to the important role played by Singapore to promote economic cooperation, especially as Singapore is a regional and international economic center, especially in investment and financial services.

The financial and economic institutions are interested to increase their investments in and trade with Egypt. This is obvious in the developments in trade and investment over the past years, Mohieldin added.

NOL, a global transportation and logistic services company, will expand its activities in Cairo mid next month. During the meeting, the NOL called for a meeting with the Minister of Transport Mohamed Mansour, the leaders of the Ministry of Transport, the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), and the Transportation Holding Company, an affiliate to the Ministry of Investment. The company called for such a meeting to promote cooperation with these bodies.

Preparations are underway for the Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's visit to Singapore next year, as part of a visit to Asia at the head of an official delegation, including representatives of public and private institutions and companies to promote economic ties.