The meeting was chaired on the Egyptian side by Dr. Abdel Aziz El Sherif, Plenipotentiary Minister and First Undersecretary of the Ministry and Head of the Egyptian Commercial Representation Office. Participants included Ambassador Wael Hamed, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Plenipotentiary Minister Ahmed Amoui, Head of the Egyptian Customs Authority, and representatives from the Commercial Agreements Sector at the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, Agricultural Quarantine, and the Veterinary Services Authority.
The UK side was headed by Rob Lally, Head of Africa,
Economic Security, and Trade Relations Administration at the UK Department for
Business and Trade.
The meetings held under the framework of the mechanism aim
to discuss ways to support agricultural and trade cooperation and follow up on
files of common priority, especially in the field of agricultural produce,
which is witnessing increasing demand in the British market.
El Sherif stated that the volume of trade exchange between
Egypt and the UK reached approximately £2.9 billion in 2024, comprising
Egyptian exports worth £1.4 billion and imports from the UK worth £1.5 billion.
Furthermore, British investments in Egypt reached about £20.6
billion by the end of February 2025, through 2,103 companies operating in
various economic sectors.
Notably, the value of Egyptian fruit exports to the UK
reached £197 million, and Egyptian vegetable exports reached £114 million,
according to 2024 data.
Both parties stressed the existence of many opportunities to
increase trade exchange rates and encourage British investments into the
Egyptian market, particularly in the food sectors.
The meeting comes in the context of ongoing preparations for the anticipated visit of the British Prime Minister to Cairo in the autumn of 2025, which is expected to represent a significant step towards elevating bilateral relations between the two countries to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership.