Egyptian -British business council probes doubling British investments in Egypt

"British investments in the oil and gas fields are expected to be doubled reaching eight billion dollars within the coming four years," said Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy after taking part in the meetings of the Egyptian-British Business Council recently held in London.

He also asked the British corporations to increase their investments in Egypt that enjoys massive oil and gas reserves.

The Council reviewed the steps already taken to attract foreign direct investments to Egypt and increasing Egyptian exports.

The Council managed to attract about four billion dollars within the past three years, according to the Council's Chairman Mohamed Nussair.

Moreover, the Egyptian exports increased by 65 per cent last year, a matter that demonstrated the Egyptian exports' capability of getting into world markets, he added.

However, the British side pointed out that the Egyptian imports from Britain declined by five per cent in the year 2000 in comparison with the previous year.

The Council also tackled means of luring more British tourists to visit Egypt. Britain is regarded as the second largest foreign investor in Egypt after the US.

"Volume of trade exchange between the two countries increased by 60 per cent last year in spite of the decrease of the Egyptian imports," British Ambassador to Egypt Graham Boyce said.

Moreover, the British investments generally increased by 20 per cent within the past three years, the Ambassador added.

"British oil and gas investments reached $ four billion, expected to double within the coming five years," Fahmy said.

"The recently signed Egyptian-European partnership has added a new dimension to the Egyptian-European relations, "Egyptian Ambassador in London Adel Gazzar said.

Representatives of about 400 British companies, some of them are operating in the industrial and service domains, had visited Egypt within the past three years, Ambassador Gazzar added.

"Communications was one of the major fields that also attracted mutual interest between the Egyptian and British sides," Nussair said. This field provides a wide opportunity for attracting further British investments in the country, he added.

"During the Council's gathering, the sixth of its kind, the British Trade Department has assigned the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce to supervise all programmes pertaining to the promotion of British investments in Egypt," the Chambers General Secretary Taher Al-Sherif said.

Regarding the agricultural sector, the Council reiterated that the Egyptian Ministries of Trade and Agriculture are providing all facilities to overcome obstacles facing joint ventures. The British side, on its part, reiterated the necessity of promoting joint cooperation in the field of agriculture processing.