Minister Meets Morocco's Foreign Trade Minister 

Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin met in Cairo with Morocco's Foreign Trade minister, Abdel Latif Mazuz, who is participating in meetings with the African Trade Ministers.

The meeting was attended by the Moroccan Foreign Trade Ministry's Multilateral Trade Relations Department Chief Hassan bin Sidiq, the WTO department head Al Idrisi Yahyawi Abdel Aziz, and the Moroccan Embassy's chargé d'affaires in Egypt, Mustafa Al Yamli.

It was also attended by GAFI chairman, Osama Saleh, the National Co. for Construction & Development (NCCD) chairman, Ahmed el Sayed, the head of the Egyptian Contractor's Federation, head of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE)'s Investment Studies Sector, Emam Mahmoud, GAFI deputy head, Nivin Ashafei, and representatives from the Investment Ministry, GAFI who are responsible for investment and cooperation affairs with Morocco.

Dr. Mohieldin pointed to the positive developments in Egyptian-Moroccan relations, particularly in the field of investment which grew 73 percent during the past five years alone compared to its status between 1970 and 2009. There are 109 Moroccan companies in Egypt; 80 of which were established in the past five years alone.

This confirms Moroccan investors' confidence in the Egyptian investment climate. Morocco's investments in Egypt are within the areas of communications, construction and finance. It also runs investments in agricultural, industrial, tourism, and service sectors.

The meeting discussed Egypt transferring the presidency of the Investment Commission at the Organization of Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) to Morocco and Spain. Egypt presides over the commission jointly with the U.K.

The Moroccan minister Abdel Latiz Mazuz commented on the distinguished Egyptian-Moroccan relations. The bilateral investments witnessed a boom in the wake of the Egyptian tourism delegations' visits to Morocco. These visits have identified the existing investment opportunities and devoted efforts to supporting and facilitating the movement of trade and investment between the two countries.

In this regard, the two sides have stressed their interest in maximizing the use of the bilateral and regional agreements in order to enhance the bilateral investment, establish joint projects serving multiple industries, strengthen integration among Arab countries and boost trade exchange either with the Arab or the African countries. Within the framework of the two sides' keenness to support bilateral investment and trade, GAFI Chairman Osama Saleh has confirmed that GAFI will sign a cooperation protocol with the Moroccan Investment Promotion Agency. This comes within the framework of technical cooperation in investment and exchange of information.

Ahmed Al-Sayed, Chairman of the National Company for Construction and Development (NCCD) and head of the Egyptian Federation for Construction & Building Contractors, that heads the African Federation for Construction and Building Contractors, has confirmed that he pays closee attention to the medium housing projects, whether in Egypt or Morocco, in addition to a number of tourism investment projects carried out by the Moroccan side in Egypt. Amr Gamal, Chairman and Managing Director of the Egyptian Navigation Company, has stressed the importance of strengthening and revitalization the shipping line between the Egyptian and Moroccan ports in order to facilitate trade between the two countries.

Al-Sayed Imam, Director General of the National Bank of Egypt's Investment Studies Sector, has stressed the bank's readiness to finance the proposed projects between the two sides, whether through borrowing or through participation in the capital.

At the end of the meeting, the two sides expressed their dedication to immediately take the measures necessary to support these areas of cooperation between the two countries. They have confirmed that they seek to promote investments in the coming period, especially in communications and information technology, as the Moroccan side is keen to draw upon the Egyptian expertise in this field. They have also agreed to facilitate trade exchange between the two countries, either through the existing agreements or through the promotion of the shipping lines between the two countries.