Attendees at the Egyptian-Lebanese Business Forum praised solving about eight problems for Lebanese investors in Egypt during the last two years, with investments worth $600 million; they also lauded the economic reforms undertaken by Egypt to improve the investment environment. Egypt's Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr and Minister of Communication Amr Talaat participated in the forum, in the presence of Lebanese Communication Minister Mohamed Shokai, Egypt's Commercial Attaché in Beirut Mona Wahba, and a number of officials and Lebanese companies. “The Egyptian state is considered an important station for investments, whether for Arabs or Africans. We witnessed the positive change and the openness that took place in Egypt during the last four years,” the Lebanese communication minister said. “We, as the State of Lebanon, encourage investing in the Egyptian state because of the existing facilities,” he added. Vice President of the Egyptian Lebanese Association Fouad Hadraj said that the economic reform measures implemented by the Egyptian government represent a point of light, pointing out that one of the most important features of this reform is the open dialogue between the State and the private sector. Hadraj referred to the need to translate the two countries' agreements and protocols to real projects on the ground to serve the interests of the Arab peoples. Moreover, President of the Egyptian Lebanese Businessmen Association Fathallah Fawzy said that the relations between the two countries are on the threshold of a new stage in which they aspire to achieve unprecedented levels of economic cooperation, both at the level of joint direct investment or at the level of trade and exports. Fawzy also stressed the need to achieve real partnership and integration between businessmen in the two brotherly countries and to take advantage of the great potentials, expertise of the two countries to meet the needs of the Arab markets, especially those that need to be re-built and to benefit from the existing Lebanese expertise in the continent. This comes in light of the increasing role of Egypt in the African continent after President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received the presidency of the African Union. For his part, head of the Egyptian side of the Egyptian-Lebanese Business Council Ahmed el-Sewedy stated that the industrialization in Egypt has become distinguished with a very good global reputation thanks to the stimulus package approved by the Egyptian government. He also stressed that the Egyptian companies are working to penetrate the investment sector in Lebanon. The volume of Lebanese investments in Egypt amounts to $4 billion, through 1,645 companies that operate in the sectors of services, industry, construction, petroleum, tourism and agriculture. The Lebanese investment was the third fastest growing investment in Egypt during the past year.
