Swiss economists delegation to visit Cairo early

Swiss Economics Minister Johann Schneider will visit Egypt in November heading a delegation of leading economists including a number of government officials and representatives of six Swiss companies operating in different fields.

Minister of Trade and Industry Tareq Qabil said that the visit aims at reviewing the future of economic cooperation between both countries, the investment opportunities available in the Egyptian market, means to boost trade and investments and benefiting from the Swiss expertise in the field of developing small and medium enterprises.

This came during Qabil's meeting with Ambassador of Switzerland to Egypt Paul Garnier where they discussed promoting bilateral economic ties and Swiss investments in the Egyptian market.

The Swiss delegation will discuss with the Egyptian government the economic reform program that has been applied in Egypt for two years, Qabil said.

The economic reform program had a positive impact on doubling the foreign cash reserve, decreasing the budget deficit and the trade scale and increasing the industrial growth rates, he said.

Qabil said that Egyptian exports to the Swiss market reached 477 million dollars in 2016 in comparison to 79.7 million dollars in 2015.

On the other hand, Garnier said that economic ties binding Egypt and Switzerland are strong and date back to over 40 years, adding that Egypt is among important trade partners in the Middle East.

He asserted the possibility of boosting cooperation between both countries in the fields of abilities and vocational training for the industrial projects and small and medium enterprises.

He pointed out to the possibility of transferring Swiss industrial expertise to the Egyptian industry via the Swiss industrial companies working in the Egyptian market.

Source: MENA