It is expected by Stephane Romatet, ambassador of France to Egypt, that French companies would announce the new deals with Egypt during the planned visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the Egypt, adding, “the presidential visit is a good occasion to announce the new deals which we are working on now, however, it's too early to reveal more details.” "The French embassy is very well prepared for the future presidential visit. it's too early to communicate the date but off course, the visit will be a major milestone in our relations, that's why we are intensified our preparation mode for both the Egyptian and French sides," the ambassador told Daily News Egypt. Earlier in October, DNE reported that Macron will pay an official visit to Egypt on 28 January 2019, according to official sources on condition of anonymity. The ambassador affirmed his country's efforts to make the presidential visit a major success for bilateral relations, adding that the president will come to Egypt with the intention of taking benefit of all the potential in the fields of investment and major projects. Notably, Egypt and France are considering holding a joint investment forum in the New Administrative Capital, during Macron's planned visit, to promote Egypt's infrastructure projects, according to official sources to DNE in October, adding, "holding the forum in the New Administrative Capital depends on security approvals, as a presidential visit is a sensitive matter and needs to be fully secured." "I am sure that the economic dimension will be absolutely key to Macron's expected visit," mentioned the ambassador, adding that the annual average of the trade exchange is over €2bn, while there is potential to increase the figure. "In truth, France is exporting about €2bn to Egypt while importing about €400m, and my personal feeling is that we can do more better in terms of trade exchange," said the ambassador, affirming both countries' efforts to boost the trade exchange over several occasions. On October 2017, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi visited France and discussed with Macron joint efforts to counter terrorism, the Middle East peace process, and the situation in Libya. During the past visit, both presidents attended the signing of 16 memorandums of understandings in the fields of renewable and traditional energy, infrastructure, social security, and transportation, as well as meeting a number of French military manufacturing companies. The trade exchange between Egypt and France recorded $1.4bn during the first eight months of 2018, divided into $460m in exports and $999m in imports, according to a past statement from the trade and industry ministry. French investments in Egypt are estimated at €4.5bn, including agricultural industries, information technology, construction, new and renewable energy, transportation, banks, aviation, water desalination, infrastructure and tourism, the statement added.
