Egypt aims to learn from the Swiss experience in supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship, acting Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Tuesday.
In a meeting with Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch, Madbouly said that the SME sector in Switzerland contributed to boosting the economic activity of the country.
The pairs also agreed to exchange experiences with Switzerland in the sectors of infrastructure, services, housing, renewable energy, machine manufacturing, electronic devices, medicine manufacturing, agriculture and water treatment.
Madbouly said that the government is looking forward to increasing bilateral trade and investment between two countries.
Swiss countries are interested in expanding their activities in Egypt, especially in the field of industry, tourism, services, construction, agriculture, communications and information technology, Ineichen-Fleisch noted.
Ineichen-Fleisch will witness the launch of an Egyptian-Swiss Cooperation Strategy for 2017-2020 on December 12 in the presence of Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr.
The total budget of the Egyptian-Swiss Cooperation Strategy for 2017-2020 is expected to reach 86 million CHF ($86.6 million).
Bilateral trade between Egypt and Switzerland amounted to $1.36 billion in 2016, where Egyptian exports to the country soared by approximately 500 percent to stand at $477 million, compared to $80 million in 2015.
Switzerland is the 15th largest foreign investor in Egypt, with projects worth $2.7 billion.
Egypt Today
13 December
