ALEXANDRIA: A total of €23 billion of investments will be injected into projects in the Euro-Mediterranean region, Ahmed Wakil, chairman of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday. At the annual Euro-Mediterranean Trade and Investment Summit, the Alexandria chamber signed a memorandum of understanding with the Malta Chamber of commerce to boost bilateral trade and investments. Mahmoud Essa, Egypt's minister of trade and industry, said that due to the political turmoil following the January 25 Revolution, the country has been witnessing an economic crisis. “Aside from the effects of the revolution and the transition to democracy, the country has also been affected by the recent crisis that hit the United States and Europe, along with the recent food and fuel [surges] the world is currently witnessing,” he said. Egypt, however, has many unique investment opportunities in agriculture, trade or services, he said. “In this new period after Egypt's revolution, we have to take real action towards cooperation with our fellow Mediterranean countries,” he added. At this year's summit, Egypt is hosting 500 businesses from across the Euro-Mediterranean region “to set an economic agenda for the private sector in a post-Arab Spring region.” Members of the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce (ASCAME) and Industry were also president at the summit. According to Murat Yalcintas, this is the first time ASCAME meets in Egypt. “Egypt is capable of overcoming this critical period during the time of revolutions in the region,” he said. “It is one of the countries in the region that has several investment opportunities as well as an ability to transfer technologies to other nations.” ASCAME is currently one of the largest business and trade organizations in the Mediterranean region, serving 22 countries, which are home to 500 million citizens. Some of the countries include Algeria, Albania, Tunisia, Macedonia, Malta, Egypt, Lebanon, Italy, Cyprus, Morocco, Spain, as well as Syria. ASCAME was created to further develop and strengthen collaboration between the Mediterranean countries. Essa pointed out that this time is the most opportune to continue strengthening these relations as the Arab region sees unprecedented change while the world also continues to see ¬¬a turbulent economic period.
