Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr met Wednesday with Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Takehiro Kagawa to discuss means of boosting economic cooperation between the two countries.

Nasr said Cairo greatly appreciates Tokyo's support for the development process in Egypt.

She cited Japanese programs to fund a number of national mega projects, atop of which the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), not to mention funds to upgrade Borg el Arab Airport in Alexandria and the electricity and energy sector. 

Kagawa said Japanese companies are keen on grasping promising investment opportunities in Egypt, especially with a new investment law in the pipeline. 

He expected the bill to help attract more regional and INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTS to Egypt. 

Nasr and Kagawa also talked about an Egyptian-Japanese education initiative under which cadres of the Egyptian education and health ministries receive 2,500 scholarships in Japan over five years. 

Japan has also offered 41 million dollars worth of a grant to build outpatient clinics at Abul Rish Hospital and to supply laboratories of the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology with equipment. 

The meeting also took up means to enhance Japanese investments in Egypt, improve the business climate and benefit from Japanese expertise and technology. 

Nasr and Kagawa discussed ways by which Egypt could benefit from Japanese know-how in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Kagawa touched upon fruitful cooperation with Egypt in the field of food industry. 

Nasr stressed the need to increase economic and investment cooperation with Japan in the coming stage.

Source: MENA