Under the title “A Roadmap Toward Strengthening Egypt-Gulf Economic Cooperation,” Cairo hosted the activities of the Egypt–Gulf Trade and Investment Forum, organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in cooperation with the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of GCC Chambers, and the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones.
The forum was attended by Egypt’s Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, several Egyptian ministers, the Secretary-General of the GCC Jassim Al-Budaiwi, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Abdullah Al-Qasabi, Kuwait’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Khalifa Abdullah Al-Ajeel, the Chairman of the Federation of GCC Chambers Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al-Rawas, and the Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce Ahmed El-Wakil.
Also participating were several ambassadors, senior economic and trade officials from GCC countries, and a group of business leaders from both Egyptian and Gulf sides.
The Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian, African, and Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce, Ahmed El-Wakil, emphasized during the forum the importance of integration between Egypt and GCC countries in light of global trade wars and the need to capitalize on comparative advantages to manufacture jointly and export to African, European Union, EFTA, MERCOSUR, and American markets, as well as other free trade areas available to Egypt that collectively exceed 3 billion consumers without customs duties and with a 40% local component.
He also stressed the importance of utilizing the “TIR” agreement linking Egypt with GCC countries to transform the region into a global logistics hub through the integration of Egyptian-Gulf pivotal ports and trans-African trade routes such as Alexandria–Cape Town, Port Said–Dakar, and Safaga–N’Djamena, which would open access to the landlocked countries in Central Africa and connect them with fast Ro-Ro lines to the European Union.
