Germany offers Egypt $500 million to support economy, SMEs

Germany is planning to provide Egypt with $500 million in support of the country’s economic reform programme and local micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, the country’s Minister of International Cooperation and Investment Sahar Nasr announced Friday.

“We have reached agreement with Germany on the offer of $250 million in support of the government’s economic programme, and another $250 million to support several sectors including SMEs and micro-enterprises,” the minister said in a statement.

Nasr announced Berlin’s offer at the Egyptian-German Business Forum, held during German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Cairo this week, on which she was accompanied by a delegation of German investors.

Merkel promised the $250 million to support the country’s economic reform programme during a prior joint press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Nasr said she was looking forward to more German investment in Cairo, assuring attendees of the forum that her ministry had finalised an investment law, currently under discussion in parliament.

The minister’s statements come a few days after Germany’s Ambassador to Egypt Julius Georg Luy said that German investors would be interested in investing in Egypt, but still had questions about assurances in the sector.

Luy said that his country was waiting for the investment law to be approved so that it could be presented to investors.

German investments in Egypt are estimated to total €1.5 billion, according to the ambassador, and provide around 22,000 jobs.

Source: Ahram Online