Hassan El-Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, has witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Egypt-Japan Business Council and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in the presence of Hiroshi Oka, Japanese Ambassador to Cairo, and Hossam Heiba, Chairperson of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones. The MoU aims to activate joint work between the Council and the Program in several areas, including joint events, active participation in initiatives provided by the Program and Egyptian government initiatives, business support programs, investment promotion, capacity building programs, research cooperation and communication with companies, and cooperation in efforts that support sustainable development goals within the regulatory framework of Egypt.
The MoU was signed by Alessandro Fracassetti, Resident Representative of the UNDP in Egypt, and Mamdouh Al-Araby on behalf of Ibrahim Al-Araby, Chairperson of the Egypt-Japan Business Council. The Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade reviewed the recent progress by the Egyptian government to encourage foreign investments in Egypt. He noted that Egypt considers Japanese investments and the programs and projects provided by the UNDP a top priority for sustainable development and capacity building. El-Khatib added that this agreement will help integrate the Japanese experience through the Council with the programs provided by UNDP to expand their activities in Egypt, which the Ministry of Investment strongly supports to encourage business institutions and councils to play their role in supporting the national economy. For his part, Hiroshi Oka, the Japanese Ambassador to Cairo, pointed out the importance of such agreements in supporting development work, which Japan considers a top priority in Egypt through JICA, JETRO and others. He noted that this agreement will be a strong window for more capacity building and technology transfer programs for public and private sector companies in Egypt. The Japanese Ambassador expressed his appreciation for the pioneering role of the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade in supporting Egyptian-Japanese cooperation and holding the Egyptian-Japanese Joint Committee last September, as well as receiving the Japanese businessmen's mission and holding the Egyptian-Japanese Green Energy and Water Management Forum. In turn, UNDP officials expressed their appreciation for this agreement, a pioneering start to work closely with Egyptian private sector companies in partnership with the public sector. They noted that the Egyptian-Japanese Business Council represents a model of a successful partner with Japan, which is in line with the policies and programs of the Development Program in Egypt and the Arab countries. The attendees of the signing ceremony included Mohamed Youssef, the Authority's Chairperson's Advisor for Promotion; Marwa Hussein, the Authority's Japan File Officer; Gimar Dib Nab, the Resident Representative; and Mai Abdel Rahman, the Program Officer. The Japanese side was also represented by Kato Ken, Director of JICA in Egypt; Yuko Ishikawa, Director of JETRO in Egypt; Fadl Abdel Hamid, Secretary General of the Egyptian-Japanese Business Council; Hidenori Nishi, President of the Japan Business Association in Egypt; and the UNDP delegation and representatives of the Japanese Embassy in Cairo.
