Trade, international cooperation minister meet German officials

Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Qabil and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr on Friday met with German officials during their visit to Berlin.

The two ministers met with members of the German-Egyptian Parliamentary Friendship Group at the German Bundestag, where they reviewed Egypt's latest political and economic developments.

They affirmed Egypt's commitment to implementing its political roadmap, that was completed by electing members of the House of Representatives and implementing an economic roadmap to restore Egypt's position on the global economy map.

A statement by Egypt's Trade and Industry Ministry quoted Qabil as saying that the country is leading a fierce war against terrorism.

Egypt is on its way to restoring full stability needed to achieve aspirations of citizens, the minister added.

He called on the German Bundestag to play a more effective role to support Egypt's war against terrorism.

Germany represents an important economic partner to Egypt and it is the time for German businessmen to start establishing new projects in the Egyptian market and to expand their current projects there, the minister said.

He affirmed the Egyptian government's commitment to maintaining a free-market economy, encouraging the private sector and developing the economy's infrastructure, and modernizing the Egyptian industry in various sectors, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Egyptian government has made great strides in improving the business climate by approving new legislation that contributes to easing procedures, Qabil said.

For their part, members of the German-Egyptian Parliamentary Friendship Group praised Egypt as one of the most pivotal states in the Middle East and Africa, describing relations linking the two countries as "strategic".

The two ministers also visited Siemens' largest training institute, where they had talks with senior officials on developing the company's investments in Egypt during the next phase.

Qabil called on Siemens officials to establish a permanent training center of the company in Egypt.

The two ministers also met with members of the Executive Board of KfW Development Bank Norbert Kloppenburg to discuss providing financing mechanisms to small and medium-sized enterprises in the fields of solar and renewable energies.

Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr signed a 2016- 2018 cooperation agreement with the German side. The deal, worth 153 million euros, was sealed on the sidelines of the meetings of the Egyptian-German Joint Committee to boost cooperation in the fields of renewable energy, technical education, climate change small and medium-sized enterprises and housing.

Source ; MENA