India's economic relations have significantally improved over the years with Egypt, one of its most important trading partners in Africa, the outgoing Ambassador to Cairo, Sanjay Bhattacharya, has said.
During a farewell meet with the media yesterday, he said some of the landmark events that took place during his tenure included the high-level contact between the governments of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
"I think the biggest change that has happened (in India-Egypt ties) has been in the economic field. Through the last few years, a large number of Indian companies have kept coming in to Egypt... also the volume of investments has grown tremendously," he said.
He said that some big names in the Indian market are now present in Egypt across sectors such as automobiles, agriculture projects, electronics and information technology.
He said another "big achievement" on the economic front has been Egypt agreeing to having the line of credit from India.
"India has a USD 10 billion line of credit facility for countries in Africa. It is the cheapest kind of long term credit. It's a great opportunity that is going to bring much closer collaboration in the economic field," he added.
India is Egypt's 11th largest trade partner. India's imports from Egypt were worth of USD 1.2 billion during 2016-17 financial year, while exports were recorded at USD 2 billion, according to information on Ministry of External Affairs website.
The Ministry of External Affairs had recently announced Bhattacharya's appointment as the next Ambassador of lndia to Turkey after serving in Cairo for three years. Rahul Kulshreshth, who is presently the Ambassador of India to Turkey, will replace him.
Bhattacharya also highlighted India's increased participation in different international cultural festivals held in the cities of Egypt.
"India has also been organising its own cultural programmes like 'India by the Nile', 'Glimpses of India' and 'Tagore festival'," he said.
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