Egypt and Japan have enjoyed friendly relations since Japan’s recognition of the independence of Egypt in 1922. Relations between both countries continued to grow and develop and today include cultural, scientific, educational and social areas.

Egypt is a great nation in a geopolitically important position linking the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Given this, strengthening Egypt’s stability and development as well as its constructive role in the region is important for regional peace and stability.

Moreover, with a large, young population, Egypt’s labour force and domestic market are attractive for Japanese businesses. Approximately fifty Japanese companies have expanded operations to Egypt.
In terms of recent diplomatic relations between both countries, following the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to Egypt in January 2015 and President El Sisi’s visit to Tokyo in 2016, both leaders announced the ‘Japan-Egypt Joint Statement’. This is a leap towards a new stage in bilateral relations especially in the electricity, education and health fields.

In 2018, JICA President, Mr. Shinichi Kitaoka, paid a visit to Egypt where he held meetings with President El Sisi and high-ranking officials. He also visited JICA’s project sites including the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) and signed an ODA loan agreement for the Egypt-Japan School Support Program.

“Egypt’s tourism sector will greatly benefit from the contributions JICA is making to the country’s capital. Current projects include the expansion of the Cairo metro system and the construction of the new Grand Egyptian Museum.”

In light of the country’s political importance, Egypt’s economic growth and potential for Japanese companies is of great significance for JICA as we assist in the development of Egypt.

JICA has three priority areas in Egypt:

Inclusive and Sustainable Growth:
Electricity
Transportation
Private Sector
Tourism and Cultural Heritage

Poverty Reduction and Enhancement of Standard of Living:
Irrigation and Rural Development
Basic Social Services

Human Resource Development/Public Sector Reform:
Education
Public Sector Empowerment
South-South Cooperation

In total, JICA has provided around $ 1.5 billion in grant aid to Egypt and financed 42 projects with ODA loans (nearly $ 6.5 billion). Technical cooperation amounted around $800 million. The grant aids for the Cairo Opera House (in 1988) and also the Suez Canal Peace Bridge (2001) are symbolic examples of the long history of JICA’s cooperation in Egypt.

Additionally, JICA has been supporting Egypt with technical cooperation since the 1980s to develop human resources and the country’s social system. We dispatched more than 2.8 thousand Japanese experts to Egypt and accepted more than ten thousand trainees from Egypt to Japan. More than 290 Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) have worked in Egypt.

Currently, JICA is working on 11 ODA loan projects; including an Energy Control System Upgrading Project in Upper Egypt, the Gulf of El Zayt Wind Power Plant Project, Electricity Distribution System Improvement Project, an Electricity Sector Rehabilitation and Improvement Project, the Borg El Arab International Airport Modernization Project (II), the Greater Cairo Metro Line No. 4 Phase I Project, the Construction of New Dirout Group of Regulators (DGR), Improvement in the Water Distribution System, the Grand Egyptian Museum Construction Project, the Hurghada Photovoltaic Power Plant Construction Project, EJEP: Human Resource Development Project, and the EJEP: Egypt-Japan School Support Program. Two grant projects including the clean Energy by Solar Electricity Distribution System and the Cairo University Special Pediatric Hospital’s Outpatient Facility have also been supported by JICA.

“There is a long history of collaboration between Japan and Egypt in education, culture and infrastructure projects. JICA has been involved in numerous projects across Egypt over the years and we are proud to have contributed to the country’s development.”

www.jica.go.jp/egypt/english/index.html

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The volume of trade exchange between the two countries during the period January to August reached 793 million dollars compared to 694 million dollars during the same period last year 2017, meaning that trade exchange increased by nearly 100 million dollars, which is a good indicator of Trade exchange between the two countries.

Although the decline in the total trade volume in 2017 from the previous year 2016 to about 300 million dollars, but the growth in the volume of trade between the two countries during the year 2018 is a very good indicator of the possibility of trade exchange between the two countries to the highest in the near future.

Also noted the entry of new Egyptian products to the Japanese markets in the past years, such as dried vegetables, frozen and processed fruits, as well as animal feed and increase exports of clothing and textiles, which is also a good indicator although of difficulties of entering the Japanese market and meet with Japanese standards, as you know.

Although the trade balance is still in favor of Japan at nearly 700 million US dollars according to the data of the year 2017, the Japanese tendency for many companies to inject more investments in manufacturing and re-export to Japan will be an important factor for trade balance between the two countries in the coming years.

At Overall levels, the economic relations between the two countries were affected after the January 2011 revolution, as did other countries. However, the recent Egyptian moves to overcome the revolution side effects and improve the business and investment environment and solve most of the obstacles faced by the Japanese investors in Egypt have caused a good sign on the relations between the two countries.

The visit of the Japanese Prime Minister to Egypt in January 2015 and the visit of the President of the Republic, President Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi to Japan in March 2016, had the greatest impact in supporting the economic cooperation between the two countries, and we all saw the results of these visits in the volume of signed agreements in business, educational and culture cooperation between Egypt and Japan.

We are optimistic that the next few years will witness a great growth of economic cooperation between the two countries.

What role does JEBC play in strengthening ties between Egypt and Japan?

Since its establishment in 1999, EJBC has adopted the structure of PPP to work together on promoting cooperation between Egypt and Japan in all sectors of Economic cooperation “trade, industry and services” and encourage Japanese investment. As well as social and culture relations.

The Council works according to a work plan, which is periodically updated to cope with the regional and international circumstances, in order to serve the interests of its members in all the commercial, industrial and service sectors, and above all to support the Egyptian-Japanese cooperation.

The council used to organize regular joint meetings for the Egyptian and Japanese businessmen in cooperation with JEBC and JCCI and our success partners in Egypt and Japan, also we used to receive enquires from both sides to explore the business opportunities and arrange the B2B meetings and networking accordingly.

Our council is in constant contacts with our counterpart to update the Egyptian economy and investment opportunities with the legal framework updates.

EJBC used to arrange the training workshops using the Japanese Kaizen management for Egyptian industrial sector in cooperation with MTI.

The multilateral role of EJBC supports third country cooperation in Middle East and Africa.

EJBC supports the LAS in organizing the JAEF since 2009 and supports Japanese Organization in organizing the TICAD.

As you know, the coming year will witness the 20th anniversary of JEBC, we are now working on ambitious plan for this year specially which will witness many join events and activities in Egypt and Japan.

What can be done to improve the business connections between Japan and Egypt?

It is well known to the globe the dedicated efforts of the Egyptian government to re-organize the business and investment environment and update the business legal framework and tax system in Egypt.

These efforts start to reflect more confidence in the Egyptian economy with its attractive factors from labor force, row materials, bilateral and multilateral agreements and the local market consumption with around 100M population.

The importance of bilateral and multilateral agreements that gives benefits to Egyptian origin products, and we have a very famous success story for Japanese company which is Sumitomo Denso wire harness factory.

As well known, the Japanese investor needs long time to study carefully before taking the investment decision, but once he takes it he committed.

Our role in council to keep the Japanese targeted investor updated with the economic situation in Egypt is important to accelerate his decision.

The opportunity for Japanese investors now is booming in new and renewable energy sector after the new amendments (feed-in-tariff) approved, and according to Egyptian strategy to achieve 20% of its needs from electricity from the new and renewable energy, 12% of this target is wind power.

We all know how much is trained labor force is important for Japanese company, so that we are targeting more Japanese training for the targeted sectors.

We think the new arena of Japanese industrial park will be important factor to attract more Japanese investors.

Working together with our Japanese friends on making joint Japanese Egyptian strategy for exporting Japanese products assembled in Egypt is very important.

We need more promotional business delegation between the two countries.

We need more specialized exhibitions for Japanese and Egyptian products in both countries.

more support for Japan desk in GAFI and similar organizations is needed

More support for Kaizen center and similar training centers in needed.

What message do you have for our readers regarding the future of the relationship between the two countries?

Dear Readers, Dear Japanese friends, as you may know, the last years witness a remarkable achievements aiming for long-term fruitful cooperation between our nations, the educational agreement is a very important that will build a well-educated generation used to use the success Japanese style in more success of business and friendly cooperation between the two countries.

Egypt is known with its unique geographic location that give ease of Japanese products access to Europe and Africa seizing the preferable of Egyptian origin, and the row materials, labor force and the local market consumption, I invited you to pay much intention to this market for the future of Japanese brands all over the world.

I would like to invite the Japanese decision makers to pay much intention to use the Japanese credit lines for SME’s through JIBC and other bodies, which will give more advantage to Japanese SME’s to explore the Egyptian investment opportunities.

Meanwhile, I invite the Japanese decision makers to pay more intention to the importance of updating the joint investment agreement that signed on 1978 in order to cope with the positive circumstances in both countries.

The Japanese success stories in Egypt are many; those companies seize the benefit factors in Egyptian business environment and re-export their products to japan and Europe union.

Please allow me to seize this good opportunity to invite all Japanese companies to participate in our Council’s upcoming events in 2019, and it is my pleasure to invite them to participate in our upcoming joint conference in Egypt in March 2019.

www.jebc.org

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A Message from Takashi Tsunemi, Managing Director of JETRO Cairo

Japan and Egypt have a long friendship and are historically great countries. There are aspects of both countries in which the population and the industrial structure are similar and it has been possible to forge a relationship which complements Japan and Egypt in various ways.

Today, Japan is required to utilize the skills of sophisticated foreigners in its future economic growth. Egypt is rich in human resources and Japan actively cooperates with training which the Sisi administration is implementing. We want to see Egyptian people raised in this environment in order for them to grow professionally alongside Japanese companies working in both Japan and Egypt.

Japan also appreciates Egypt’s current investment climate and many Japanese executives are doing business in the country. Excellent products and technologies from Japan are being used to facilitate economic growth in Egypt.

We want to see Egyptians receive continued education and Japan is playing a role in this. Importantly, in order to attract Japanese companies to Egypt, the country’s business environment needs to continually improve.

For the continued development of both countries, further industrial, academic and government exchange is important. We expect the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) held in Japan later this year will be an opportunity to realize these ambitious goals and JETRO will play an important role in the strengthening of Japan-Egypt relations moving forward.

www.jetro.go.jp/egypt/

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I am a member in the Egypt-Japan Business Council (JEBC) and we regularly discuss investments from Japan as we work closely with Japanese companies and JICA.

Egypt and Japan share a strong bilateral relationship. We are working to increase investments in Egypt and we have established cooperation between the Arab Contractors Company and Hitachi of Japan at one of the desalination plants. We have a comprehensive knowledge of the Japanese market as well as Japanese products which are available in Egypt. We also had a previous partnership with a Japanese company during the construction of the El Salam Bridge over the Suez Canal. There is a history of Egyptian-Japanese cooperation in various sectors, past and present, and we will increase our collaboration sin the future.

What is your vision for the future?

We aim to be one of the leading countries regarding foreign investment and we are receiving many offers from foreign companies and investors.

There are great business opportunities in the ‘Suez Canal Development Axis’ and we hope Japan will be one of the countries to play an important role by investing in these projects in addition to the Chinese and Russian investors. We are seeing utilities and infrastructure demand create investment and business opportunities and we are discussing these issues within the Egypt-Japan Business Council.

What message would you like to share with our readers in Japan and around the world?

Egypt is a must-see country for visitors to the region. We invite our Japanese friends to visit the Egyptian coasts, beaches and historical sites. We look forward to sharing our country’s continued development.

Economically, we are establishing industrial areas at the Suez Canal Development Axis to aggregate and re-export products and services including cars, manufactured goods, food and industrial products. Egypt is in a unique strategic location and with the Suez Canal, we will continue to be a world-class center for trade and industry.

www.arabcont.com/English/Default.aspx

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We help them introduce Japanese-style educational concepts such as ‘Whole Child Development’ — also known as Tokkatsu or ‘Special Activities’ — to Egyptian elementary and secondary schools. This concept contributes to the development of children’s not only academic but social, emotional and physical skills by encouraging team work and creative-thinking skills, cleaning the classroom together and giving students the opportunity to be ‘class-leader’ for a day.

The Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) is collaboration between Japan and Egypt. The research university aims to cultivate a leading research and academic environment and become a higher education benchmark for Egypt and other African countries.

Egypt’s population of almost 100 million is at the crossroads of three continents. Strategically positioned between the Middle East, Europe and Africa, the country is an important partner for Japan in terms of ensuring security across the region and as an economic partner. Notably, Egypt holds the chairmanship of the African Union this year and we expect Egypt to play a central role in the TICAD7 summit meeting in Yokohama, Japan at the end of August this year.

The image of Japan is extremely positive in Egypt and, personally, I have been made to feel very welcome. We want to encourage more Japanese visitors to experience Egypt and invite Egyptians to visit Japan. Safety and security across the country has significantly improved, though basic security precaution is naturally required, such as using the Foreign Ministry’s travel registration (Tabi-regi). As of December last year, there are two weekly direct flights between Cairo and Tokyo.

Established with grant assistance of Japan, last year marked the 30th anniversary of the Cairo Opera house. To mark the occasion, AIDA was performed by the Japanese Soprano singer Ms. Michie Nakamaru (the first non-Italian winner of Maria Callas Competition) at the Cairo Opera House on December 4 and 6 last year. Ms. Nakamaru shared the title role with iconic Egyptian Soprano, Ms. Iman Mustafa and symbolized the cultural synergies found between Japan and Egypt. Mr. Ryu Goto, the world-renowned violinist will perform at the Cairo Opera house in June to close the 30th anniversary.

With a civilization dating back 7,000 years, Egypt is an exciting country and the relationship between our two countries will continue to develop as we look to the future.

www.facebook.com/Embassy-of-Japan-in-Egypt-1579761695620781/
www.eg.emb-japan.go.jp

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Today, El-Araby sells over 400 different products in 22 countries. The group’s distribution and service network consists of over 2,800 sales centers and more than 180 after-sales service locations.

By expanding its distributor network and maintenance and after-sale service centres, El-Araby intends to better serve its customers.

Moving forward, El-Araby intends to play a more prominent role in Egyptian society through its education initiatives, while reaching out to key markets across the region and contributing to the Egypt-Japan relationship.

www.elarabygroup.com/en

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While Egypt currently relies on thermal power plants for the majority of its power needs, demand for more renewable energy solutions is increasing.

“We won the first-ever wind power IPP (independent power producer) project in Egypt,” said Tokuji Koyama, general manager, TTC Cairo Representative Office.

“The $400 million Ras Ghareb Wind Energy project will improve the country’s ‘energy mix.’” Located on the Gulf of El Zayt, the site boasts excellent year-round wind conditions. Through a consortium, TTC will build, own and operate the 262.5 MW wind power plant. In December this year, TTC will begin to sell generated electricity under a 20-year contract.

“We construct power plants in a timely manner and offer the most advanced technologies,” said Koyama. “We have established strong political and business relationships in Egypt and have seen the Egypt-Japan relationship become more robust over the years.” As the chairing company for Japan-Egypt Business Council, TTC is continuing to contribute to the thriving business relationship between Egypt and Japan.

“Egypt’s economic growth is incredible,” concluded Koyama. “Exports are increasing, security is getting better and Egyptians are friendly and welcoming toward foreigners. As we look to the future, we will build on our reputation as a strong partner for Egypt.”

www.toyota-tsusho.com/english

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“We are in a position to deliver both hardware and integration solutions to our customers across the country and remain true to our belief that delivering quality service and support are the foundations of our success,” El-Rahman said.

As the Egyptian economy continues to move in the right direction, Fujitsu Egypt is committed to supporting the development of the country’s ICT sector.

“We are proud of our role in the country’s ongoing infrastructure and technology projects,” said El- Rahman. “We partnered with the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics for the first digital Census in Egypt in 2017. With Egypt’s growing population and the creation of newly established cities; we are seeing an increase in demand for our solutions,” said El-Rahman.

From joint venture projects to the strengthening of cultural ties, Egypt and Japan remain strong partners today. Egypt’s business community recognizes the Fujitsu name as a quality brand and an important long-term contributor to the Egyptian economy.

“We see Egypt as an ‘eagermarket’ and new customers are increasingly keen to work with us,” concluded El-Rahman. “We will continue to meet our targets and we look forward to contributing to the future of this great country.”

www.fujitsu.com

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“Our strategy is to continuously build on our achievements while widening the array of services we provide to clients,” said Amani Hamed, OKAZ chairperson.

“We cherish the values that the old market stood for and will continue to provide our clients with a safe environment for their investments and offer attractive investment opportunities.”

www.okazinvest.com

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“The global cement industry is encountering a host of challenges, primarily oversupply and inflated cost of energy. We believe that challenges pose new opportunities for those who are prepared to cater to them,” said El-Sebaie, “At ASEC, we deploy talent and technology together with our profound expertise to create reliable and cost-efficient solutions driving sustainable development for our customers.”

“Our long-standing relationship with our customers together with business synergies with technology partners will provide us with a competitive edge and 2019 will be good for us. We have partnered with Taiheiyo Engineering Corp. from Japan and Promac Engineering Industries, Ltd. from India to provide end-to-end solutions and pool our industrial capabilities. We are gearing up to deliver unique solutions for energy efficiency and optimization to Egypt and other key markets across the region.”

“Egypt is founded on 7,000 years of civilization and we take pride in our deep roots in this glorious land that serves as an inspiration for our relentless quest for excellence and higher accomplishments,” concluded El- Sebaie.

www.asec-engineering.com

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