The US companies’ interest in the Egyptian market is remarkably increasing, the US’ Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires in Egypt, Thomas Goldberger, said, noting, “American companies come to Egypt every day to look for new opportunities to invest here, to sell their products, and buy Egyptian products.”
The key opportunities in Egypt are IT, oil and gas, as well as health and tourism, he told the reporters during the launching of the employment fair, ‘Shaghalna’ on Saturday, affirming that American companies would like to be part of the growth and the activities which are going on in Egypt.
“Last week, I witnessed the signing of a contract between one of the US companies and the New Administrative Capital in order to develop smart cities and technology there. A week before, a big American company which is ExxonMobil announced starting new exploration in the oil and gas sector,” he explained.
The trade exchange with Egypt hiked last year to reach over $6.5bn and there are lots of opportunities to continue the increasing trend in 2019, he added, noting that there are ongoing discussions on the joint trade agreements and arrangements with Egypt, yet, the most important for the US is to see the American companies investing in the local market.
Several American companies participated in Egypt’s latest petroleum show ‘EGYPS 2019’, including the companies which are already here and others which seek new cooperation opportunities, he acknowledged, asserting that the EGYPS 2019 achieved a big success.
Moreover, American companies operating in Egypt expanded their investments by around $1bn during the fiscal year 2017/18, increasing the total US investments in Egypt to $21.6bn, led by Mars Wrigley, Cargill, Kellogg’s, and General Electric, according to past reports on 11 September.
“2019 will witness very important official visits from the US to Egypt, but we do not usually talk about them in advance,” he added.
Notably, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Amr Nassar, emphasised the importance of the US-Egyptian economic relations, pointing out that the volume of the trade exchange between Egypt and the US amounted to $5.618bn in 2017, up by 13%, compared to the $4.974bn in 2016, according to past reports in September.