By Mahmoud Salah El-Din
Cairo – Mubasher: Egyptian-Swiss trade balance stands at $1 billion (EGP 8.9 billion) out of which 90% represents Swiss exports to Egypt, said Markus Leitner, Switzerland’s ambassador to Egypt.
Egypt is ranked the second African market receiving Swiss products, including machineries, nutritional products, and pharmaceuticals, Leitner clarified.
Based on official data, Swiss exports to Egypt reached CHF 656 million (EGP 6 billion) in 2009, while investment value registered CHF 191 million (EGP 1.7 billion) in 2008.
Moreover, Switzerland has injected $1.3 billion (EGP 11.6 billion) into investments that offer 30,000 job opportunities in different sectors, the ambassador pointed out.
At the current time, Swiss companies are encouraged to invest in many a project, namely in the Suez Canal Area development projects.
Concerning smuggled money belonging to former Egyptian officials, the ambassador said negotiations are still underway and they will be retrieved soon.
Egypt expends efforts on attracting foreign investments, boosting the domestic economy as well as decreasing unemployment rate that hit 12.7% in the first quarter of 2016.
By the end of 2017/18, the government targets to reduce unemployment rate to 10-11% as per official data.
Translated by Ahmed El-Sayed Ali
