CAIRO: The United Kingdom plans to double the volume of trade between Egypt and Britain from £3 billion currently to £6 billion by 2015, according Lord Mayor of London Michael Pierre. In his speech before the British-Egyptian Business Association in Cairo, Pierre said his country will invest in Egypt in the fields of industry of financial services to meet the advanced and developing economic market's needs. He said his current visit to Egypt is the most important visit he has ever made. He also sees great challenges facing Egypt in meeting the demand to create a stable and transparent frame for businessmen. "Egypt has unlimited boundaries,” he said. “There are strategic importance and diverse economy that accompanied with strong industrial bases which are able to create the future especially in the field of communication and information technology, as well as Egypt has the increasing population which has great number of the youth." There are great challenges facing Egypt after the revolution to recover the economy, as growth should be raised 6 percent annually to create job opportunities for youth, whose numbers are estimated at 750,000. The growth of unemployment has also reached 12 percent. Egypt also faces challenges that settle in the Public Budget Deficit, which rose by 9 percent, as well as the increase of the inflation rate concerning the nutrition level, he continued. There are 1.5 million British people who visit Egypt annually. They contribute 10 percent to Egypt's tourism income. The Lord Mayor said Britain is the only country that did not ask its citizens to leave Egypt's Red Sea resorts during the country's January 25 Revolution. Britain is the largest investor in Egypt as 70 percent of foreign investments in Egypt are British, said Pierre. He added that the investments of British Petroleum are a good example as the company decided to increase its investments in Egypt by $11 billion to express confidence in Egypt's economic and investment future. Britain is working with international partners such as the International Monitory Fund and the World Bank to create a mechanism to finance the Egyptian economy. Pierre said his visit aims to find solid ground to help Egypt achieve its aspirations. Pierre noted Egyptian commitments to create an environment to make the private sector flourish, especially for small and medium enterprises. The financial district in London, which is considered a landmark in creating projects between the government and private sector, will provide Egypt with its experience. Egypt was the fifth greatest partner to Britain in the Middle Eat in 2010, as UK exports to Egypt increased by 20 percent while the Egyptian exports to Britain increased by 35 percent from January to June 2011, despite the circumstances that Egypt's economy sees.
