Duty free access for India from Egypt: Egyptian envoy

India is getting “duty free access” from Egypt to markets in the European Union, North America, Africa and the Arab markets. The Dollar business Bureau

Egypt gives “duty free access” to India to market in the EU, North America, Africa and Arab markets

    Earlier in January Hatem Tageldin Egyptian ambassador to India, spoke at a business meet where he outlined that the bilateral trade between the two countries stood approximately at Rs.34,000 crore every year. In an exclusive interview to The Dollar Business, the Egyptian Ambassador then said, “We strongly believe there is a huge potential for increasing bilateral trade volume and increasingly there is a lot of acceptance of Indian commodities in Egypt. We believe the recent endeavours by both the countries will go a long way in transforming the economic identity of both India and Egypt in days to come.” Echoing the ambassador’s vision, Egypt has extended its hand in providing duty free access to the Indian companies in order to trade with the EU, North America, Arab and African markets. There are around 52 Indian companies in Egypt with an investment of about Rs.20,400 crore. The ambassador asked the Indian business men to take investment opportunities available in Egypt. He pointed out that investment opportunities in the Arab nations, where major changes have been countersigned would have an impact on the domestic investment as well as on the FDI. Remarking on the ease of trade due to trade agreements he added, “we have many free trade agreements (FTAs) with our neighboring countries (including many Arab and African countries) which allow manufacturers and investors ease of access to a large market area.” Outlining the positive atmosphere in Egypt, he remarked that the companies in Egypt are also finding ways to make additional investments in India. Kapci coatings, one of Egypt’s auto refinishing companies has plans of investing $50 million for setting up five factories in India. Around 25 companies are expected to take part in the Cairo International fair, scheduled this month from 16^th to 25^th. Tageldin said, “In order to facilitate trade, we give incentives to manufacturers and investors in many sectors, especially in sectors that have high chances of generating job opportunities for our fellow citizens.” The government of Egypt has launched various projects with a view to create investment opportunities in water plants, roads, ports, railways, solar energy among others.  Talking about tourism, Tageldin said, “Indian tourist groups can get visa on arrival in Egypt. For individuals, we try to process the application in just 3 working days, provided all documents are in place and we don’t ask them to come in person. Everything is done via post.” The tourism sector of India had seen an increase to 27% in 2015.  

March 07, 2016 | 05:10pm IST