India-Egypt set trade target of $ 8 billion, sign MoU on JV for marketing mobile phones

Lava International India and Easy Group of Egypt, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a joint venture between the two companies for marketing mobile phones and other IT related equipment in Egypt initially and subsequently manufacturing the same and catering to the whole North African and MENA region markets .

The MoU was signed during the 4th India-Egypt Business Council meeting organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) which was attended by Eng. Khaled Abu Elmakarem, Co-Chair of the India-Egypt Business Council from the Egyptian side, HE Mr Hatem Tageldin, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to India, Mr Sanjay Bhattacharya, Indian Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt and leading Egyptian and Indian businessmen. The MoU follows a FICCI initiative to cultivate strong business linkages between Indian companies and their Egyptian counterparts during a delegation visit to Cairo, Egypt, in March, 2016.

India and Egypt have witnessed enhanced engagement following Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2015 and later during the Third India-Africa Forum Summit at New Delhi in October 2015.

India and Egypt are looking at intensification of dialogue between the two countries and enhanced trade and investment. India and Egypt have a trade volume of $ 3 billion -- which both sides are keen to upgrade to $ 8 billion -- and there are currently 52 Indian companies operating in Egypt of which 25 are joint ventures with a total investment of $ 3 billion across a wide range of sectors. As a US $ 286 billion economy with around 89 million consumers -- the second largest in Africa -- that Egypt represents, the potential and scope is immense.

Addressing the Business Council meeting which also coincides with the first official visit of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to India, Ambassador of Egypt to India HE Mr Hatem Tageldin said that the Indian and Egyptian leadership were committed to enhance cooperation in all sectors - political, cultural, economic and Defence. Mr Tageldin called upon entrepreneurs to tap the opportunities in chemicals, petrochemicals, textiles, autos and auto components, mining and renewable energy as well as those in the Suez Economic Corridor.

Describing the India-Egypt bilateral relations as poised at an important juncture, Mr Sanjay Bhattacharya called upon Egyptian businesses to work closely with Indian industry to bring to fruition the shared vision of creating a new partnership in a new era. There are both opportunities and challenges and also a broad understanding between the two sides of the need to take things forward, Mr Bhattacharya said, highlighting opportunities of expanding economic cooperation in hydrocarbons and development projects that the Egyptian Government had launched.

Mr Vijay Sankar, Chairman of the India-Egypt Business Council from the India side highlighted the increased frequency of interactions between Indian and Egyptian businesses as sign of good times to come between the two partners. Mr Sankar said that while India Egypt cooperation has expanded to cover diverse areas, there was a need to correct the slowdown in trade.

Urging Indian industry to explore the potential in Egypt, members of the Business Council from the Egyptian side offered incentives to Indian business like allocation of land for free in upper Egypt, employment incentives, laws for protection of Intellectual property and exemption from tax for 10 years. Indian and Egyptian Business Council members also discussed possbilities of luring Bollywood to shoot in Egypt and big companies to hold annual meetings to promote corporate tourism.

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