Gazette staff CAIRO, August 7, 2018 - Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar and Singapore's Ambassador in Cairo S. Premjith discussed on Tuesday ways of increasing economic co-operation and the current and future Singaporean investment projects in the Egyptian market. During the meeting, discussions also covered the possibility of increasing the trade volume particularly of Egyptian exports to the Singaporean market. Minister Nassar said that there were huge investment opportunities for Singaporean businesspeople in the Egyptian market in industry and agriculture. He highlighted the importance of increasing the volume of trade between the two countries; especially as the current volume was not enough to promote bilateral relations. In 2017, the Egypt-Singapore volume of trade was $220 million. In the same year, the minister added, the main Egyptian exports to Singapore were chemical products, fertilisers and agricultural produce. Imports included engineering, electronic and building materials. The meeting also discussed the importance of setting up partnerships between the private sectors of both countries in many fields. Minister Nassar said that Egypt was keen to benefit from Singapore's industrial experience through transferring advanced industrial technologies to the Egyptian industries. Ambassador S. Premjith said his country was keen on increasing economic co-operation with Egypt. He talked of the possibility of benefitting from his country's experience in establishing integrated industrial cities. He said that eight of these cities had been built: four in China, two in Vietnam and two in Indonesia. The Singapore diplomat said, "There are many success stories related to my country's investments in Egypt, which will encourage more Singaporean investors to invest in Egypt, especially in the light of the economic reform programme which is being implemented and which is turning the country into an important hub for investment regionally and internationally."
