During a four-day Egyptian trade mission to Lebanon to secure building materials, representatives of the delegation signed four export contracts that will provide a framework of collaboration between the regional countries. The mission finalised an agreement between the Egyptian polycarbonate sheet company Polyee Playst and Lebanese companies operating in Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Iraq, and Kuwait. Additionally, the trade mission broached negotiations surrounding a tentative $3m trade agreement, according to the commercial counsellor of Egyptian Commercial Services (ECS) in Beirut, Mona Wahba. Polyee Plast was founded in 2004 and exports raw materials for the manufacture of construction elements made of transparent polycarbonate panels. Wahba said Elsewedy Electric Company signed an export contract to supply the Lebanese market and Lebanese electric companies operating in African countries. Wahba noted that Hijazi Group, one of one of the most important Lebanese groups in Africa in the field of contracting, announced the establishment of a company in Cairo to provide building materials to the African market. "In the field of attracting investment, Ghaddar Machinery Company, a holding company in seven African countries, has shown its interest in investing in the Beni Suef area to set up a factory for the manufacture of paints and construction chemicals for export to Africa," Wahba said. "The company will be established with an initial capital of $15m and is expected the company will employ 400 workers." Ghaddar Machinery Company's president will visit Egypt to pursue the establishment of this factory. The Al-Behar Group has expressed interest in investing in the construction chemicals sector in Africa, with initial an initial capital of $10m. The Al-Polife officersr Group's president will visit Egypt in April. Trade between Egypt and Lebanon was recorded at $540m in 2015, with Egypt profiting from the trade relations, according to the Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Alain Hakim.
