Dr. Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade, has asserted that there will be negotiations to establish a free zone between Russia and Egypt in the coming period, pointing out that this agreement can increase the flow of Egyptian exports to the Russian market as well as the Russian investments in Egypt. Abdel Nour has called the Russian mining companies to invest in the ‘Golden Triangle' project in the Red Sea coast, which is scheduled to be launched soon. The minister has affirmed during his meeting with the Russian ambassador in Cairo, the necessity to activate the role of the Egyptian-Russian committee in order to reinforce the economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries, noting that the ministry is restructuring the Egyptian side in the Egyptian-Russian Business Council aiming to develop the economic and commercial relationship between the two countries. Sergey Kirpichenko, Ambassador of Russia in Cairo, has confirmed that his country is interested in the current situation of Egypt, noting to the importance of moving forward towards the completion of the democratic transition to restore Egypt's regional and international position. Kirpichenko said Russia is keen to support Egypt in its turmoil situation , pointing out that the Russian government has not taken any decisions regarding the prohibition of Russian tourism to Egypt and that the Russian tourists are still spending their vacation in Egypt. The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and the Russian Federation reached US$4.197 billion in 2012. The main Egyptian exports to Russia include potatoes, citrus fruits, cement and the main imports are wheat, petroleum products and paper.
