Dr. Abdel Aziz El-Sherif, Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade and Head of the Egyptian Commercial Service, received Dr. Yousrey Elsharkawi, Chairman of the Egyptian African Businessmen’s Association (EABA), along with a delegation from the Association. The meeting was attended by the heads of the Egyptian Commercial Representation Offices in African countries via video conference, as well as Minister Plenipotentiary for Commercial Affairs Mr. Ragy Nabil, Deputy Director of the African Affairs Department, and Commercial Counsellor Karim Hamdy from the African Affairs Department at the Commercial Service.
At the outset of his remarks, Dr. Abdel Aziz El-Sherif stressed the agency’s commitment to maintaining constant communication with the Egyptian business community and praised the efforts of the EABA in the African file. He noted that this joint cooperation and coordination always make us look forward to further collaboration, working together diligently to fulfill Egypt’s national directives and the quantitative targets set by the state to increase Egyptian exports to African countries.
El-Sherif emphasized that the agency works with all Egyptian commercial offices abroad and coordinates with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its embassies in African countries where there are no commercial offices, in a manner that supports and contributes to achieving the desired goals. He also stressed the agency’s openness to receiving all proposals, requests, and perspectives from the Egyptian private sector, given their significant impact on implementing Egypt’s trade strategy adopted and formulated by the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade to boost Egyptian exports to the continent.
For his part, Dr. Yousrey Elsharkawi underscored the importance of the business community understanding the role of commercial representation officials and for every strategic partner to appreciate the role they play, so that all parties can work together within a growing ecosystem for the public good and the country’s economic objectives—objectives that align with those of the private sector. He highlighted the Association’s constant commitment to transparent coordination with its primary strategic partner, the Egyptian Commercial Service, expressing appreciation for the system’s recent achievements. He also called for raising marketing awareness and improving the understanding of international trade concepts and requirements among the Egyptian business community to overcome unconventional challenges in penetrating African markets.
The attendees heard from the external offices within the African continent, gaining access to commercial information and receiving answers to the Association members’ questions. Agreement was reached on several shared points, guidelines, and activities, to be implemented through a joint work plan between the Association and the African Affairs Department of the agency.
From the Association, the energy sector was represented by Eng. Hussein El-Ghazawy, Chairman of the Energy Committee; Eng. Ahmed Samir El-Adl, Board Member and representative of the foreign trade sector; Dr. Mohamed Anwar, member representing the trade and industry sector; Dr. Doaa Abdel Hady, representing the infrastructure conferences sector; Eng. Mahmoud Metwally, representing the IT sector; and Dr. Sherif Soliman, representing the export sector.
