Ashraf AboArafe
18 June 2023, CAIRO – In its eighth edition, the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) mission to London saw the participation of two Egyptian Ministers accompanied by a delegation from the Department of Business and Trade and around 40 businesses, including Baker Tilly Hilal, Centamin, Dentons, HiiRoc, Lekela and Petrofac.
In support of the UK-Egypt green partnership, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Eng. Tarek El Molla and Finance Minister Dr Mohamed Maait embarked on the mission to London to explore ways to support Egypt’s reform and prosperity agenda, bringing in more UK investments in green energy, mining, finance and decarbonisation.
The mission kicked off with an energy transition roundtable including welcome remarks from Eng. Khaled Nosseir, BEBA Chairman, Sherif Kamel, Egyptian Ambassador to the UK, and Gareth Bayley, British Ambassador to Egypt.
Minister El Molla delivered a keynote speech, where he gave an overview of the Egyptian market, one of the largest markets for renewable energy and infrastructure projects in Africa and its ambition to build a clean, sustainable and resilient economy. He reflected on possible opportunities to match between UK capabilities and experiences in decarbonising the energy sector with Egypt’s sector plans and requirements, with the opportunity for UK companies to be involved in the process.
To that end, he also had a fruitful meeting with Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade Nigel Huddleston, where they discussed bilateral trade and investment relations including how to overcome key market access barriers.
In addition, he participated in a mining roundtable discussion hosted by Centamin, a gold mining company, to explore ways to develop and push forward Egypt’s mining sector.
The mission also saw Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, meeting with various banking and financial institutions and investors, including The Royal Mint, to discuss potential collaboration on the new Egypt Mint project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
British Ambassador to Egypt Gareth Bayley, who took part in the mission, said: “The UK and Egypt enjoy a strong and sustainable green partnership. We witnessed several agreements signed at COP27 and we hope that this mission will help unlock additional opportunities ahead of COP28, further strengthening our trade relationship and driving mutual clean economic growth. The UK stands ready to support Egypt’s reform plans and its green transformation journey.”
Members of the mission, which took place from 13-16 June, said that it had been successful in its objective of fostering Egypt-UK trade relations and showcasing economic incentives that promote clean growth in Egypt, as well as providing a platform for dialogue and understanding on mutually beneficial topics.
