Toyota Egypt's CEO Ahmed Monsef told Daily News Egypt that Toyota is planning to increase its investment in Egypt in the next five years as it tries to make Cairo its regional hub to expand in the region. "Egypt is a very important market to us. We plan to make it our regional hub in the coming five years," he said on the sidelines of launching an assembling line for the 2017 Fortuner. Toyota Motor Engineering Egypt S.A.E. (TMEE) held a line-off ceremony on Monday for the Fortuner SUV at a plant belonging to Arab American Vehicle Co. (AAV), an assembly subcontractor. AAV is to produce approximately 3,000 Fortuners a year, with TMEE managing various aspects of the operation, including vehicle quality control, supply and demand management, and logistics management. Attendees of the ceremony included several government officials, such as Minister of Investment and International Coopearation Sahar Nasr, the Arab Organization for Industrialization chairperson, and AAV's chairperson. At the ceremony, Monsef noted the significant challenges that local suppliers have taken on, adding that "it is not too much to say that this Fortuner project could not be realised without each supplier's tremendous effort." "I would also like to take this opportunity to offer my sincerest appreciation to the various government agencies, component suppliers and all those who ... continued to be greatly understanding and supportive from the initial stages of this enterprise until this very day," he added. Monsef praised the Egyptian market, saying that "Toyota is convinced that Egypt ... is a market with immense potential. Toyota is committed to doing whatever it can to contribute to Egypt's economy and the country's enduring automotive industry." From her side, Sahar Nasr praised the project and described it as a confidence note in the Egyptian economy. "This project mark the confidence of international investors in the Egypt economy, which is on track to regain its power," the minister said in a press release. Local components in the new assembled car will amount to 47%. Toyota sold approximately 10,000 vehicles in the country last year. Toyota Egypt is the sole distributor of Toyota Motor Corporation products in Egypt. It was established in 1979 in the Free Zone and had since been growing and developing to become the leading brand in the Egyptian automotive market. Toyota Egypt has 46 outlets in total spread regionally, 12 of which are self-owned and 34 of which are dealers.
