Minister of Investment Dalia Khorshid has called on major French companies to expand their projects in Egypt. 

The remarks were made on Monday during the inauguration of the Egyptian-French Business Forum on the sidelines of French President's visit to Cairo.

The visit reflects the French business community's confidence in the Egyptian market, Khorshid said.

She said that the visit would be a starting point for economic relations between both countries and an incentive to the Egyptian government to continue to support the private sector, create an appropriate investment atmosphere, work to remove all obstacles facing the investment sector and provide the necessary facilities to attract further French investments.

The Egyptian government aims to achieve a growth rate hitting in 2015-2016, she said.

The government targets to realize a foreign direct investment hitting 10 billion dollars in 2016-2017, she stressed.

The Egyptian minister pointed out that Egypt is keen on taking advantage of French expertise in various fields and sectors, mainly in infrastructure, electricity, tourism, telecommunication, banking and car industries.

"We are working now to set a list of projects in several competitive sectors," she said.

She asked the French side to get acquainted with investment opportunities in Egypt