On the 8th of January, ASCAME participated at the Trilateral Egyptian-Greek-Cypriot Forum in Cairo, where presidents, ministers, chambers of commerce, CEOs and experts from the three countries discussed different ways to develop tripartite cooperation. Discussions covered the energy, infrastructure and agriculture sectors, as well as transportation, logistics and health services.
Mr. Ahmed El Wakil, President of ASCAME and Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, delivered a keynote welcome address stressing Egypt’s business and investment opportunities: “Egypt is again the land of opportunities in infrastructures, manufacturing, services, and agriculture. Today, political and economic stability and public-private partnerships are facts, not a dream”.
The President of ASCAME highlighted that “Egypt is working on a fast track creating an attractive business climate, based on modernization of its business laws, regulations and infrastructure, major economic reforms and offering great business opportunities”. In addition, Mr. El Wakil talked about “the strategic position of Egypt as the crossroad of trade located in the middle of all trade routes and with free trade areas of over 3 billion consumers”. Mr. El Wakil took advantage of this international summit to “call for cooperation to increase joint exports and investment in the three countries”. In his opinion, “the three countries can benefit from the Free Trade Agreements to implement projects in Africa, where the top ten Egyptian companies have invested over 10 billion dollars in 21 African countries in the past few years”.
Fostering regional business cooperation in the Mediterranean
In the framework of this forum, Mr. El Wakil, on behalf of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union of Hellenic Chambers of Commerce -represented by its President Mr. Ioannis Masoutis– and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry -represented by its President Mr. Stavros Stavrou -.
The three institutions agreed to establish a Trilateral Business Council to promote trilateral cooperation and implement various business promotion programs and initiatives. This MoU aimed at maximizing trilateral and regional business cooperation in all fields and sectors. Representatives from the three chambers of commerce and industry committed to work together in launching several matchmaking activities and B2B fairs and exhibitions, in addition to give mutual logistic support.
Over the past decade, Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus have advanced their trilateral cooperation across various domains, including in energy, economics, and defense, as well as their political and diplomatic coordination. A notable project in this collaboration is the EuroAfrica Interconnector, which is set to establish an electricity link between the grids of Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece through a 1,396 km subsea cable with a total capacity of 2,000 MW, serving as an energy conduit between Africa and Europe. Furthermore, Egypt and Greece are collaborating on the GREGY project, aiming to create a 3,000 MW submarine cable spanning around 950 km, facilitating the exchange of green and cost-effective energy.