CAIRO: Italy agreed to grant LE 100 million to the Egyptian-Italian Technology Cooperation Fund as well as train 250,000 Egyptian workers in the fields of leather, foodstuffs, textiles, engineering, furniture and marble. Additionally, a 50 million euro contribution to finance small and medium-sized businesses was given the final go-ahead. These developments were a result of the latest Egypt-Italy Ministerial Council in Cairo last Monday, according to Hany Barakat, first under secretary and head of the technology development department in the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid hosted his Italian counterpart, Emma Bonino, to discuss a plan of action for bilateral trade. Talks revolved around assessing the progress of a bilateral action plan that was initiated in 2005 with the creation of the Ministerial Council, which identified common commercial interests and areas where the two countries could cooperate. The ministers discussed ways to promote investment and facilitate trade as well as transportation in order to ease the flow of goods between the countries. During the meeting, the ministers analyzed the progress of the Egyptian-Italian Transfer and Innovation Centers operating in the fields of fashion design, furniture, plastics, marble and engineering industries. Other centers will soon be launched in the areas of pottery and ceramics, packaging and building materials. Bonino proposed Italy organize an Egypt day to promote Egyptian products as well as host a convention where Egyptian companies could showcase their goods. Cooperation in the field of renewable energy was also discussed, whereby Egypt would import technology from Italy to create a renewable energy industry, namely wind energy. A program is already underway with IVECO, a subsidiary of the Fiat group, to introduce gas-fuelled vehicles (with a focus on buses) to the Egyptian market, as well as the underlying infrastructure necessary for Egypt to co-produce them. This initiative will be discussed further next week in Rome. Barakat mentioned that a 120-strong contingent of Italian businessmen will travel to Egypt in the upcoming months to discuss trade opportunities. Although this was the third round of the annual meeting, held alternately in Cairo and Rome, it was Bonino's first visit to Egypt in her new capacity as trade minister. The total volume of trade between Egypt and Italy stood at a little over 3.7 billion euros in 2006, with Egypt importing 1.5 billion euros from Italy and exporting almost 2.2 billion euros in that year (half of those exports being oil). Total trade volume overtook the 1 billion euro mark during the January to March 2007 period. Total Italian investments in Egypt currently amount to around 1.25 billion euros and total Egyptian investments in Italy stand at a whopping 15 billion euros.
