Egypt's Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir met with his Bulgarian counterpart Bogdan Bogdanov and his delegation to discuss ways to enhance trade and industry cooperation and attract Bulgarian investments to the Egyptian market. Samir said that there are great opportunities for Bulgarian companies in areas of strategic importance to both countries, such as automotive components, artificial intelligence, tourism, petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The minister emphasized the need to form a joint Egyptian-Bulgarian Business Council to advance and develop investment cooperation and increase the volume of economic cooperation. Samir also said that the Egyptian government is keen to strengthen bilateral relations with Bulgaria, which is one of Egypt's most important economic partners in the European Union. He added that Bulgarian companies could benefit from the incentives, opportunities, and advantages of the Egyptian market, which include access to regional markets through free trade agreements with major trading partners and economic blocs, such as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) and the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) agreement, as well as Egypt's strategic location, qualified labor, and diverse and low-cost energy sources. He also highlighted the possibility of achieving integration between the two sides in the fields of food, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and automotive industries. Samir revealed that Bulgaria ranks 22nd among the European Union countries investing in Egypt, with a total issued capital of about $47.69 million invested in 30 projects, mainly in the industrial sector, followed by finance, services, construction, tourism, and communications and information technology. Bogdanov, the Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Industry, expressed his country's interest in strengthening ties and cooperation with Egypt, which is one of the pivotal countries in the Middle East and Africa region. He said that the recent period witnessed a great momentum of mutual visits between officials, businessmen, and representatives of business organizations in the two countries, which reflects the depth and importance of bilateral relations. Yahya Al-Wathiq Billah, the head of the Egyptian Commercial Service, stressed the importance of studying the establishment of a Bulgarian industrial zone in Egypt, similar to the Russian and Chinese zones, to be a manufacturing hub for Bulgarian products to meet the needs of the local market or to export them to foreign markets.
