The Egyptian-Canadian Business Council will organise a trade mission to Poland and Slovakia next week to discuss further trade cooperation with the two countries. Moataz Raslan, chairperson of the council, said that the mission will include 10 companies operating in the oil and tourism sectors, as well as companies engaged in import and export, and the industrial sector. He told Daily News Egypt that the mission aims to attract Polish and Slovakian investments to Egypt, especially after the new reforms adopted by the government over the past months and since the exchange rate was liberalised in November 2016. He explained that the Egyptian companies will hold bilateral meetings with their Polish and Slovakian counterparts to discuss increasing Egyptian exports to the two markets as well as preparing a list of the most important products that can be imported from both countries. Raslan explained that the council is preparing a plan to focus on economic and trade cooperation with the countries of Eastern Europe as one of the most promising markets that Egypt aims to approach as an alternative to the rest of the European market. "Terms of trade are easier in Eastern Europe, and those countries are technologically advanced, which may serve the industrial sector and trade in Egypt during the next phase," he added. The value of the Polish investments in Egypt are about $10m, through 100 companies, with a capital of $14m, as Poland is ranked 72nd out of 153 countries that invest in Egypt, according to data of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones. The Egyptian Commercial Office in Poland has prepared a plan to increase trade exchange by reducing the shipping period of 22 to 30 days by using multi-stage cargo, which will be shipped by sea from Egyptian ports to the ports of neighbouring Germany or Slovenia, then goods will be moved via land to Poland.
