Egypt: The value of Iraqi investments is about 490 million dollars

by **claud39** Sun Jul 18, 2021 11:09 am

Egypt: The value of Iraqi investments is about 490 million dollars

07/05/2021

Economy News - Baghdad

Egypt, Iraq and Jordan are taking new steps towards forming a strategic partnership described by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi as the "New Orient" alliance, which is based primarily on economic, investment, political and security dimensions. The three countries held a summit on June 27 in Baghdad to move forward in the New Mashreq project in accordance with the political, security, economic, cultural, educational and investment agreements and understandings .

Energy and electricity interconnection projects top the list of economic interests between the three countries, while Baghdad and Cairo support the Jordanian role in the region to fight terrorism .

Ahmed Zaki, Director of the Department of the Arab Mashreq, Islamic Organizations and Gulf Cooperation in the Egyptian Commercial Representation, said that the value of Iraqi investments in Egypt is about $490 million, implemented by about 3,329 Iraqi companies, and their capital reached $724 million. Iraq is ranked 25th among the countries investing in Egypt, where 25% of Iraqi companies invest in the industrial sector, 24% in the agricultural sector, 22% in the services sector, and 20% in tourism .

Zaki said that the trade balance between Egypt and Iraq in favor of Cairo amounted to 116.231 million dollars during the first quarter of this year .

He pointed out that Iraq is one of Egypt's promising markets and has many opportunities for investment, trade and economic cooperation. He added that Egypt's most prominent exports to Iraq include furniture, cotton, dough, various food ingredients, medicines, oils, iron, silicone, dried onions, soap, cleaning materials, tiles, ceramic sanitary ware, agricultural crops, clothing, petroleum and carbon products.

He pointed out that Egypt also exports vegetables and fruits to Iraq, while it imports chocolate and cocoa products .

On the other hand, economic expert Khaled El-Shafei said that the tripartite summit between Egypt, Iraq and Jordan will create great economic convergence, in light of cooperation between the three countries in several areas, including trade in goods, services and raw materials .

He said that economic cooperation between the three countries will expand in the coming period, especially with regard to electrical interconnection projects, as Egypt seeks to become a regional center for energy and gas export to Jordan. This will lead to more rapprochement as well, he said .

Al-Shafei indicated that the New Mashreq alliance is based on maximizing the use of the resources of the three countries. He referred to a project to extend an oil pipeline from the port of Basra in southern Iraq to the port of Aqaba in Jordan and then to Egypt, through which Jordan buys Iraqi oil at a price lower than the international market price .

He explained that Egypt will also benefit from the process of refining part of this Iraqi oil on its territory, while Iraq imports electricity from Egypt.

He added that Iraq could also benefit from the Egyptian experience in the reconstruction process, in addition to making maximum use of Jordan's potential in the field of transportation, not to mention the export of goods from Jordan and Egypt to Iraq .

El-Shafei indicated that Egypt's economic trends reflect the plans of economic decision-makers in Cairo to move towards major economies, and show Egypt's efforts to benefit from the experiences of all successful countries and try to adopt economic ideas that serve the Egyptian economy. Economic cooperation is not limited to one country only .

Kadri Ismail, Dean of the Faculty of Economic Studies and Political Science at Alexandria University, said that the Egyptian cooperation with Iraq and Jordan is currently in response to other regional powers seeking to benefit from the great economic potential of Iraq .

He said that Egypt has begun to emerge regionally by strengthening its relations with Arab countries, and its important role in Iraq comes in light of common economic interests, represented in Egypt's import of Iraqi oil, in exchange for Cairo's participation in the reconstruction. process .

Ismail explained that the economy represents the largest player in the Arab region during the coming period, in light of the normalization initiated by some Arab countries with Israel, which entails the establishment of a Middle Eastern market run by regional powers. He explained that Egypt should enhance its presence in the Arab countries in order to ensure a prominent role during the next stage .

Quoted from the American Monitor website

Translation of Economy News

https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=25603