Several Turkish companies expressed interested in investing in Egypt's electricity sector, Turkish Ambassador to Egypt, Huseyin Avni Botsali, said according to MENA. Bostali led the talks of the Turkish business delegation in a meeting with the Egyptian Minister of Electricity Mahmoud Balbaa. The meeting focused on the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed between Egypt and Turkey after the visit of the Egyptian delegation to Turkey five days ago. A high-profile Egyptian business delegation, headed by the President's aid for Foreign Relations, Essam Hadad, which included the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ashraf el-Arabi, has met with the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ali Babacan. The talks covered Turkish financial support to Egypt, after which the Turkish government approved a $2 billion financial aid package, which would be directed to support Egypt's dwindling foreign currency reserves and boost infrastructure development. Egypt's Minister of Finance, Momtaz El-Saeed reported that the Egyptian delegation offered the Turkish side 15 projects under the Public-Private Partnership system, with investments totalling $8.5 billion. After meeting with the Turkish delegation, Balbaa said that the Egyptian government aims at benefiting from the Turkish experience in building electricity plants under Independent Power Producer (IPP) system and Build-Own-Operate (BOO) system; a type of concession agreement between a public authority and a private entity to finance, design, construct, and operate a facility, MENA reported yesterday. IPP is a system involving a non public utility entity that owns facilities to generate electric power, particularly in the renewable energy industry, for sale. Egyptian officials have often stressed on the importance of investing in the renewable energy sector in order to relieve the pressure on Egypt's electricity grid.
