A number of global pharmaceutical enterprise representatives have said they are willing to expand their investments in Egypt, benefiting from Egypt's location and potential as a regional hub for the MENA region. In a meeting with Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr, the representatives praised measures undertaken to develop the investment climate in Egypt, in particular cooperation between Egypt's health and investment ministries to eliminate barriers investors face in the pharmaceuticals sector. Manager of emerging markets in Europe and the MENA region at Johnson & Johnson Luis Diaz said that the company has expanded its activities in Egypt by EGP 125 million in 2019 thanks to the improvement of the investment climate, adding that Johnson & Johnson's total investments in Egypt stand at EGP 2.3 billion. Representative of Pharma Corporation Samir Khalil stated that the company has 22 enterprises working in the Egyptian market, praising Egypt's investment climate for medication manufacturing. Vice President and cluster director for Egypt and North Africa at GlaxoSmithKline Amre Mamdouh said that gross investments of the company in Egypt reached $800 million, with 15,000 workers across 10 plants. He revealed that the company will finalise the establishment of two new production lines with a total investment of EGP 100 million, while it intends to open the second production line at its Al-Salam plant by 2020, worth EGP 80 million. For her part, Nasr said the Egyptian government is looking forward to additional contributions from international companies to the developmental process in Egypt, especially in healthcare and the pharmaceuticals sector, under the umbrella of human capital investment.
