A delegation comprising 35 of the most prominent Egyptian investors with direct business relations with U.S. market will start Monday the 41th Door-Knocking delegation to the United States. Organised by the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AmCham) in Cairo, the delegation will start a series of meetings aimed at Building bridges of communication between the private sector in the two countries, and draw an accurate picture reflecting the reality of the development in Egypt, both in regards to economic reforms that has impact on the level of investment climate, and the prospects for future cooperation sought by Egyptian companies with their US counterparts. The delegates represent Egypt's various economic sectors; energy, oil and gas, banks, agriculture, food industries, and financial services. This mission is the most important and eager to improve the bilateral relations between Egypt and the United States. on the other hand, The AmCham president said the chamber had recently held high-level meetings with the Egyptian government representatives to discuss the latest developments in the country's legislative schemes and mega projects. AmCham members taking part in Door Knock Mission include Ahmed Abou Ali, Partner at Hassouna & Abou Ali Law Offices, Omar A. Mohanna, the head of American-Egyptian business council, Anis A. Aclimandos, former President of AmCham Egypt, Dalia Wahba, Chairperson of CID Consulting and Mohamed Abdullah, Chairman of Coldwell Banker. The agenda mission will include meeting with U.S private sector leaders and number of leading companies working in different investments. The delegation will also meet with officials in the U.S. Congress along with representatives of major U.S.-based financial and international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Egypt's trade with the United States recorded $5.6 billion in 2017, down from about $4.9 billion in 2016. The volume of the U.S. investments in the Egyptian market registered about $2.1 billion distributed over 1222 projects in various fields. The number of American tourists who visited Egypt has exceeded 226.4 compared to 8,000 tourists entered Egypt in 2016. There are a number of important files in the delegation's agenda; the QIZ protocol is first and foremost. Some of the investors in the delegation propose increasing the volume of goods traded within QIZ, as well as adding more companies and regions to benefit from this protocol signed in 2004. On the level of signing a free trade agreement between Egypt and U.S., many experts believe that it is time to open this file with President Trump, amid expectations of witnessing lengthy negotiations.
