Egypt will present investment opportunities to Italian investors in the next Egyptian-Italian Business Council meeting, which is slated to take place early next October in Italy, and will also be attended by the Italian Minister of Foreign Trade, according to Italian ambassador to Egypt Maurizio Massari. Egyptian Minister of Investment Ashraf Salman held talks with the Italian ambassador on Sunday, during which he received an invitation to set up an Egyptian mission to target the Italian market through presenting investment opportunities and existing projects, especially major projects which Egypt intends to push forward in the coming period. The Ministry of Investment will coordinate with members of the Egyptian-Italian Business Council by sharing the plans for future investment projects to be presented at the council's October meeting. "The consultations with the Italian ambassador touched upon the topics of energy, agricultural fertilisers, and preserved foods," Salman said. He also explained that the Italian ambassador informed him of the Italians' interest in establishing investment projects in Egypt across many different fields and its desire to increase existing cooperation. The Egyptian economy is suffering under the pressure of political turmoil and security issues, and is working to restore the confidence of the financial community and international businesses through better business practices and amendments to legislation that serve to protect investors. According to the Italian ambassador, Italy is chairing the current European Union (EU) session, which represents a good opportunity for Egypt to promote investment opportunities to Italy as a gateway to the EU. The Egyptian government has begun preparations for an investment conference in Egypt to restore the confidence of the international market. Meanwhile, Egypt's ministers of Finance, Investment and Petroleum visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week to present a map of investment opportunities. Salman also stated that Egypt is working to overcome the obstacles faced by investors, especially in terms of Italian investments in major investment projects, to provide an attractive environment for investment by improving the system of legislative and regulatory actions that govern the investment market. "We are looking to increase the exchange of investment missions between the two countries and exchange information and technical expertise to enhance economic and investment cooperation," Salman added.
