Egypt, Czech sign 2 economic cooperation agreements

Egypt and the Czech Republic on Sunday signed two agreements to boost economic cooperation between the two countries.

An agreement was signed between Egypt's Social Fund for Development and the Czech foundation for small and medium industries, while the other was signed between Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free Zones and the Czech Export Bank.

Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil and his Czech counterpart Jan Mladek attended the signing ceremony at the end of the first meeting of the Egyptian Czech Joint Economic Committee, held in Cairo.

The committee's meeting aimed at enhancing joint cooperation, especially in the fields of trade, industry, energy, tourism, transport and communication as well as small and medium enterprises.

Kabil said that the Egyptian government is keen to improve its economic relations with various foreign markets, including the the Czech market in light of the strong relations between the two countries.

Egypt is the most important trading partner to the Czech Republic in the Middle East, with trade exchange amounted to 402 million euros in 2015, he added.

He expressed hope that the outcome of the joint meeting would help in promoting trade and investment between the two countries in a dynamic and effective way, especially in light of an agreement to establish a contact point of the two sides to follow up on what was agreed upon during the committee's work.