Egyptian business group coming - envoy

E Egyptian Embassy in usaka is from arch to 20, 20 hosting a business delegation from the Federation of Egyptian Industries FEI coming to hold se eral in estment and cooperation meetings with ambian o ernment officials and their industries counterparts.

Egyptian Ambassador to Zambia Ahmed Mostafa said the delegation would comprise representatives of more than 15 Egyptian companies in various industries and a number of meetings had been arranged in particular fields of the group’s interest.

According to a statement made available to the Daily Nation yesterday, among the meetings to be held would be the business to business (B2B) forum set for Lusaka’s Taj Pamodzi Hotel on Tuesday, March 19 starting at 08:30 hours.

Mr Mostafa said at the same forum, FEL would sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Zambia Chambers of Commerce and Industries (ZACCI) for cooperation. The envoy encouraged players in the Zambian industries to attend the B2B meeting and expand their businesses.

He said the delegation’s visit would boost cooperation opportunities, business expansion and accelerate diplomatic relations of the two countries. He said the delegation would not only look for cooperation in import and export services but also look out for investment opportunities such as through partnerships.

Mr Mostafa said for the delegation to come to Zambia it had seen potential cooperation in the local industries and if investment became a reality, not only more jobs would be created and more taxes paid but there would be more transfer of technology and skills to benefit the local people. He said the Egyptian government had put in place a policy of promoting investment in Africa and that the delegation’s visit was its off-shoot.

mong the delegations field of interests were agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, Agro Chemicals, Food Processing, Printing and Packaging, Petroleum, Engineering, Wood processing and Construction industries, he said.

He said FEI was one of Egypt’s largest employers’ associations, with 20 industrial chambers as members, representing more than , industrial enterprises out of which more than 90% belonged to the private sector. accounting for more than 7 million workers and 20% of the national economy.