Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) and Mashreq Bank Egypt have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the field of investment and promote Egypt's growing business opportunities. The MoU was signed on Saturday by Hossam Heiba, CEO of GAFI, and Amr El-Bahei, CEO of Mashreq Bank Egypt.
Under the agreement, Mashreq Bank Egypt will showcase the growing business opportunities in Egypt to its Egyptian and international clients, highlighting the country's diversified economy, strategic location, large consumer market, and major national projects launched over the past decade.
The bank's role will focus on facilitating communication between GAFI and its clients interested in investing and expanding in Egypt, as well as organising meetings between GAFI representatives and the bank's international clients interested in investing in Egypt.
GAFI will provide Mashreq Bank Egypt with information on investment opportunities in Egypt, targeted sectors according to the Egyptian government's plan, and updates on the legislative and procedural developments in the investment environment.
"GAFI is keen to cooperate with Mashreq Bank Egypt to attract new investors to the Egyptian market through the bank's local and international network, which serves investors and individuals in key global financial centres, especially the United Arab Emirates, which is currently the top investing country in Egypt," said Hossam Heiba, CEO of GAFI. "The MoU signed today is a major step in the path of cooperation between the two countries."
Heiba stressed the government's belief in the importance of the private sector's role in stimulating and promoting investment across various sectors. He stated that coordinating efforts between the public and private sectors will contribute to improving the business environment and making it more sustainable, adding that innovative investment visions always come from the private sector. GAFI's role is to communicate with other investment-related institutions to implement these visions in line with the state's development priorities.
"Mashreq Bank's international network, present in global financial centres such as the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and Hong Kong, which are important trade routes with Egypt and key sources of foreign investment, will enable the bank to showcase the positive image of the investment environment in Egypt," said Amr El-Bahei, CEO of Mashreq Bank Egypt.
He added that Mashreq Bank plays a strong role in responding to foreign investors' inquiries about key investment opportunities in the Egyptian market, highlighting the importance of cooperation with GAFI to create an attractive and integrated view of the Egyptian investment environment and to provide the bank's clients with all the necessary data, information, and sector studies to enable them to invest and expand in the Egyptian market.
