Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir inaugurated on Tuesday the 13th Kuwait Week Exhibition in Cairo.
More than 60 major Egyptian and Kuwaiti companies have taken part in the two-day event, which is held under the theme “Kuwait in Egypt” and organized by the Kuwaiti embassy in Cairo and Jabriya Exhibition Group.
Ministers of supply, finance, civil aviation, immigration and public business sector also attended the opening ceremony.
Samir said Cairo is keen to bolster economic cooperation and integration among Arab states, which would contribute to achieving food security and launching an industrial system based on exchanging expertise, technologies, and production inputs to reach the level of Arab industrial integration.
“Egypt and Kuwait enjoy strong economic relations at the bilateral and multilateral levels, in line with the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) agreement,” Samir said, noting that the two countries also play an important role within the joint Arab action system.
He pointed to the investment opportunities available in Egypt for Kuwait’s business community in various productive and service sectors to provide the needs of the Egyptian market and export to foreign markets,
Samir indicated that the products manufactured in Egypt have free access to many markets and major economic blocs across the world thanks to the preferential free trade agreements signed between Egypt and these countries and blocs.
He said that the event represents an economic bridge that helps boost bilateral economic cooperation in various fields and at different levels.
“Both governments are keen to take advantage of the great potentials and capabilities enjoyed by Egypt and Kuwait and translate them into tangible cooperation projects that serve their people’s interests.”
He underlined the common visions between Kuwaiti and Egyptian officials that stress the importance of strengthening joint efforts to address the negative repercussions of the current global economic crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Kuwait amounted to about $306 million in 2021, compared to about $252 million in 2020, up 21.4%.
Meanwhile, the volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounted to about $401 million during the first 11 months of 2022.
Kuwait's Ambassador to Egypt Ghanim al-Ghanim, for his part, said holding the event in Cairo underscored the importance of boosting joint cooperation in various fields and at various levels.
He said the event is an expo of Kuwaiti and Egyptian industry, trade, investment, banking, medicine, tourism, media, culture and communication businesses and government bodies.