Egypt
(Source : Embassy of India, Cairo)
The On 8th of August 2018, H.E. Mr. Rahul Kulshreshth, Ambassador of India to Egypt met with H.E. Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Government of Arab Republic of Egypt. They discussed the possibilities of cooperation in the fields of Electricity and Renewable Energy between India and Egypt, including the Lines of Credit (LoC) Facility offered by the Government of India to African countries. The meeting was also attended by Eng. Osama Asran, Deputy Minister, and Dr. Eng. Mohamed El-Khayat, Executive Chairman of New and Renewable Energy Authority, along with other officials from the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy.
A delegation from National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), India visited Egypt from 14-15 August 2018. The Embassy facilitated meetings for the members of the delegation with Eng. Waseem Youssef, New and Renewable Energy Section, Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), Eng. Mohamed El Khayat, Executive Chairman New & Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), Eng. Gaber Al Desouky, Chairman, Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC), Eng. Gamal Abdel Reheem, Chairman, EETC and Eng. Mahmoud Wahdan, Industrial Sector, Ministry of Military Production.
H.E. Mr. Rahul Kulshreshth, Ambassador of India to Egypt, met H.E. Eng. Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, on 16 August 2018 and discussed potential cooperation between India and Egypt in the fields of Petroleum and Metallurgical wealth. Ambassador handed over copy of the Indian Lines of Credit documents along with India Technical and Economic Cooperation documents exploring cooperation with the Ministry in those fields.
H.E. Mr. Rahul Kulshreshth, Ambassador of India to Egypt, met H.E. Dr. Hisham Arafat, Minister of Transport, on 16 August 2018 and discussed cooperation between India and Egypt in the field of Transport. Ambassador discussed cooperation in the fields of railway between India and Egypt along with dry port tenders and participation of the Indian companies. Ambassador handed over copy of the Indian Lines of Credit documents along with India Technical and Economic Cooperation documents exploring cooperation with the Ministry in those fields.
Telecom Egypt (TE) signed an agreement with Indian telecom company Bharti Airtel that will grant the latter the right to use fiber pairs from TE’s recently-acquired MENA Cables, according to a TE statement to the EGX (pdf). The agreement will allow Airtel to use MENA Cables’ fiber pairs running from Egypt to India through Saudi Arabia and Oman, fiber pairs running from Egypt towards Italy, and another from Egypt to France. TE had acquired MENA Cables from Orascom Telecom Media and Technology in May.
The Agriculture Ministry has issued a set of new regulations on grape exports to India. The regulations include requiring cargoes to be stored at 0°C for 10 days prior to shipping and throughout the shipping process, submitting samples from the shipment for testing at the Agricultural Research Center, and including the testing certificate with the shipments. The ministry has been imposing more stringent regulations on exports after several countries moved to ban imports of Egyptian agricultural products due to high levels of residual pesticides and suspected Hepatitis A contaminations.
Dr. Mohammad Shake, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy discussed with Mr Rahul Kulshreshth, Ambassador of India in Cairo, means of increasing cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy. During the meeting, Dr. Shaker lauded the historical Egyptian-Indian relations linking the two countries and the close ties that have been enhanced lately especially in the field of electricity.
H.E. Rahul Kulshreshth expressed the desire of his country to cooperate with Egypt in the field of renewable energy, in general, and the field of solar energy, in particular.
Seven Indian companies intend to sign an MOU with the Economic General Authority of the Suez Canal for establishing an Indian industrial zone during the coming period. The new Ambassador of India in Cairo Mr Rahul Kulshreshth stated that negotiations between the Egyptian and Indian sides reached an advanced stage. However, he did not reveal the predicted area dedicated for the zone or expected investments. It is worth mentioning that there are 50 Indian companies working in Egypt with investments that reached $3 billion. The volume of trade exchange reached $3.68 billion including $2.2 worth of Indian exports to Egypt. Mr Rahul stated that several Indian companies are working on expanding their operations in Egypt during the coming period including Lava Company for cellular phones. In a press conference held in the headquarters of the Indian embassy, ambassador of India said that the Indian companies are interested in investing in the field of solar energy in Egypt.
Minister of Transportation Dr. Hisham Arafat discussed with Indian Ambassador in Cairo Rahul Kulshreshth the means of enhancing bilateral cooperation in various transportation fields in Egypt. They discussed the implementation of joint projects. The meeting was attended by Assistant Minister Dr. Amr Shaath. The two sides reviewed bilateral cooperation in the field of railways and developing 136 level crossings using automatic systems to enhance safety in railways. The discussions approached bilateral cooperation on training, exchanging experiences and technical support. At the conclusion, the two sides agreed on a visit by a delegation from the Indian companies to Egypt to discuss the investment potential in various fields of transportation in Egypt.