UK to finance Egypt trade deals worth up to 5 million GBP

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UK to finance Egypt trade deals worth up to 5 million GBP

Post by DJKeefy »

UK Export Finance, the UK's export credit agency, is committed to funding trade deals with Egypt worth up to GBP 500 million, and has GBP 2.5 billion of financing available for projects in Egypt, according to a British embassy press release on Sunday.

The UK's trade envoy to Egypt, Jeffrey Donaldson MP, and UK Export Finance CEO Louis Taylor, arrived in Cairo on Sunday to meet with Egyptian officials and businessmen for talks on bilateral trade, the statement said.

The delegation will look at projects such as the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the Tahrir Petrochemicals project in Sokhna, and Smart Village in Alexandria.

"Taylor comes to Egypt with the promise that UK Export Finance can underwrite prospective UK-Egyptian trade deals with up to GBP 500 million in financing or insurance, money that could directly help the Egyptian government or businesses gain access to world-class good and services provided by British companies," the statement read.

UK Export Finance (UKEF) provides financing and insurance for British companies doing business overseas to make sure they get paid by importers.

"The UK is a global leader in many of the sectors for which Egypt has greatest demand, including transport and infrastructure, and UKEF can help Egyptian buyers access UK goods and services through its innovative, flexible and competitive financing terms,” Taylor said.

The meetings will include with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil, Military Production Minister Mohamed El-Assar, Investment Minister Dalia Khorshid and Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla.

London has created a new Ministry of International Trade to expand global commercial ties for the UK as it exits the European Union in the coming years, according to the statement.

"The past few months have seen many enquiries from British companies wishing to do business in Egypt and their interest highlights the significant opportunities that are available across a range of Egyptian commercial sectors," Donaldson said.

The volume of trade between Egypt and the UK is over GBP 1.5 billion, UK ambassador to Egypt John Casson said. British investments represent 40 percent of Egypt's foreign direct investment inflows.

“Britain's interest is in helping Egypt build a strong, dynamic economy that provides jobs and opportunities for all Egyptians," Casson said.

"We are proud to be Egypt's biggest investor and of our trade worth over £1.5 billion per year. But we are hungry for more and to seize the opportunities that Brexit will give us to forge new opportunities," Casson added.


Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/233424.aspx


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Re: UK to finance Egypt trade deals worth up to 5 million GB

Post by Hafiz »

Good news I guess. Its not actual investment - just the UK government taking on financing risks normal commercial banks won't do to allow actual UK commercial investment to happen.

Oddly, the French have been recently selling everything, except their sister (unless she is a military weapon), to Egypt without any announced financial assistance/export facilitation along the proposed UK lines. Guess military planes and naval vessels sell themselves. :)

One key point in the article which gets little attention is that the UK is the largest source of inbound direct investment into Egypt and this has been the case for a while. Maybe they know something others don't. I think that the UK investment to date might be mainly in the oil and gas business so its effects don't get much noticed on the ground by the average Egyptian resident.
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Re: UK to finance Egypt trade deals worth up to 5 million GB

Post by newcastle »

UK – Egypt Relations

Britain has a long-standing and historic relationship with Egypt due to it being a former British protectorate and a strategically vital country in the MENA region. Britain remains the largest investor in Egypt, with direct investments from the top 20 UK companies operating in Egypt exceeding US$20 billion. Investments span diverse sectors such as financial services, energy, construction, tourism, pharmaceuticals, textiles and IT & communications. According to the Egypt State Information Service, ‘the number of companies, with British capital participation, working in Egypt exceeds 1000 companies, from household names such as BP, BG, Shell, Vodafone, GlaxoSmithKline and HSBC to smaller, high tech start-up companies’.

Egypt is an import-dependent country, and business relations and demand for British goods are predicted to remain healthy for the foreseeable future. Since the uprising, BG Group investments announced additional projects in Egypt of US$2.5 billion, and BP’s new US$11 billion investment, a vote of confidence in Egypt’s future, will create 5000 new jobs. Official figures provided to the Middle East Association show that total import figures from Egypt between January and December 2012 were £624m, down 21% from 2011. In terms of export over the same period, they totalled £921m down 11% from just over £1bn in 2011.

There are many reasons why British companies should consider Egypt as a possible destination to invest in or export to, and these include some of the following points:

There are over 900 UK-invested companies operating in Egypt (source: GAFI, Egyptian General Authority for Investment), including companies such as British Gas, BP, Shell, Vodafone, Barclays, HSBC, GSK, AstraZeneca and Unilever.
The UK’s investment portfolio is diverse including oil and gas, financial services, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications.
Bilateral trade figures have risen every year but one since 2000 and continued to climb through the economic crisis and remains at record levels

http://the-mea.co.uk/countries/egypt
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