Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Friday encouraged Indian businesses to explore investment opportunities across various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and emerging fields such as renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and digitalization. He also expressed Egypt’s strong interest in establishing an Indian industrial zone within the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCEZ), where countries like China and Russia already have a presence.
The minister stated that Egypt and India are aiming to double the bilateral trade by 2028. He noted that the Egyptian government is actively working to enhance the ease of doing business for Indian firms. Abdelatty also mentioned that Egypt is offering incentives to encourage Indian companies to establish an industrial zone within the SCEZ.
The minister shared that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has instructed the Egyptian government to create a supportive environment for Indian companies to operate in sectors such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and minerals—particularly phosphates and fertilizers.
On Thursday, Abdelatty held talks with India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during the inaugural India-Egypt Strategic Dialogue, and on Friday, he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. President El-Sisi had also invited the Prime Minister to attend the peace summit.
The Prime Minister’s Office reported that PM Modi expressed satisfaction with the progress made across various areas of bilateral cooperation, including trade, technology, energy, defense, and people-to-people ties between India and Egypt. During delegation-level talks, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar highlighted the growth in defense and security exchanges between the two nations, along with promising developments in trade and investment.
In FY22, bilateral trade between India and Egypt peaked at $7.26 billion, marking a 75% rise from the previous fiscal year. According to Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, India ranked as Egypt’s sixth-largest trading partner in FY25, with total trade amounting to $5.2 billion—comprising $3.84 billion in Indian exports to Egypt and $1.3 billion in imports.
As per the Ministry of External Affairs, 55 Indian companies have invested over $4 billion across multiple sectors in Egypt, generating direct and indirect employment for approximately 38,000 Egyptians.
An additional $700–800 million in investments is currently in progress. Renewable energy firms ReNew and OCIOR have each signed agreements with the Egyptian government—valued at $8 billion and $4 billion to establish green hydrogen facilities.
Modi visited Cairo in June 2023, during which India and Egypt elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership and set a goal to double bilateral trade by 2028.
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