Chinese, Egyptian Businessmen Meet to Promote Cooperation

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Chinese, Egyptian Businessmen Meet to Promote Cooperation

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Fruitful Sino-Egyptian cooperation

The Egyptian-Chinese Business Council convened its first meeting in Cairo on Monday, with nearly 200 businessmen from the two countries exchanging views on ways to promote cooperation in areas of industry, agriculture, tourism and marine transportation.

Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Youssef Amin Wali sent a message to the gathering, saying that Sino-Egyptian ties are based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence, sincere cooperation and safeguarding world peace.

Fruitful cooperation in various areas between the two countries has set a good example for cooperation among developing countries, he said.

He expressed the hope that businessmen of the two countries will play an active role in promoting bilateral cooperation in investment and trade.

China pays more attention to bilateral trade

Yu Xiaosong, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and co-chairman of the Chinese-Egyptian Business Council, said at the opening ceremony that the two economies are complementary, and bilateral trade has been developing rapidly in recent years.

He said that Chinese investors have come to pay more attention to Egypt, which has its own advantages in terms of geographic location, favorable investment environment and well-shaped legal system.

Khaled Abu Ismail, chairman of Egypt's Chambers of Commerce and co-chairman of the business council, said that Egyptian entrepreneurs are interested in learning more about China's experience in the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Tourism cooperation to be strengthened

He said that Egypt and China, two countries with ancient civilizations, should work harder to enhance their tourism cooperation in the years to come.

The business council, set up during Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's visit to China in late January this year, aims to increase links between businessmen of the two countries.

According to statistics from the Chinese side, trade volume between the two countries reached 950 million U.S. dollars last year, an increase of 6 percent over the previous year.

China's main exports to Egypt are mechanical and electronic products, textile and garments, light industrial products and food. Egypt mainly exports oil to China.

Sino-Egyptian Economic Exchanges

The two sides have signed several agreements concerning trade, investment protection, avoidance of double taxation, etc., and a joint committee on trade and economic cooperation has had three meetings. Besides, the two countries have cooperated for mutual benefits in the fields like economic technology, labor contracting, etc. China has built many projects such as Cairo International Conference Center for Egypt.

In 1999, Sino-Egyptian trade volume reached USD750.22 million, of which China's exports to Egypt were USD715.875 million and imports from Egypt USD34.363 million.

Sino-Egyptian Trade Ties

The chairman of Egypt's Chambers of Commerce on Saturday voiced optimism over the prospects of Egyptian-Chinese economic and trade cooperation in the years ahead.

"Egyptian-Chinese ties have been developing well, and there is potential for the two countries to engage in better economic and trade cooperation," Khaled Abu Ismail said in an interview.

Abu Ismail, who accompanied Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his recent visit to China, said that the signing of an agreement on establishing the Egyptian-Chinese Business Council could be seen as one of the most important results of the visit.

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