It became known about the results of the working trip of the head of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov to Egypt. The Russian delegation discussed with Egyptian colleagues a wide range of issues related to deepening cooperation in the field of industry, trade, and trade on the basis of mutual settlements in national currencies.
Denis Manturov met with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Samir within the framework of the Russian-Egyptian intergovernmental commission.
The press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade reports that in total, the Russian delegation included at least a hundred Russian entrepreneurs and representatives of various departments.
One of the issues that was discussed in detail at the meeting is related to the creation of a special industrial zone (OPZ) of Russia on the territory of Egypt. The territory of the OPZ (or RPZ), as regulated in the new document, will have an additional (to the originally designated) area of several dozen hectares and will be located in the special economic zone (SEZ) of the Suez Canal. This region of Egypt makes one of the largest contributions to the country's economy, including due to the presence of one of the largest transport and logistics routes in the world.
The location of the RPZ in the Suez Canal area will provide the best logistics for Russian commercial vessels delivering cargo for the operation of the industrial zone in Egypt.
Russian resident companies will be able to use the industrial zone to sell products both for Egypt and for other countries interested in it.
Manturov:
Egypt is interested in the Russian industry for the processing of wood, metal, and also in the supply of food (primarily wheat). In turn, Russia is ready to increase the supply of Egyptian vegetables and fruits, and other goods for which demand is growing in our country.
The sides discussed the issue of education, in particular, the growth in the number of Egyptian students in Russian technical universities.
The agreements between Russia and Egypt were reached against the background of the fact that the United States has recently dissuaded African countries from cooperating with Russia in all spheres, including the economy. But Washington also has problems here.
As already joked in the Russian blogosphere, "did Biden call the president of Egypt with a request to tell about what agreements Cairo has reached with Moscow" (a reference to today's call from the White House to Xi Jinping).