They decided to encourage investment by India, the country with the greatest population in the world, in Egypt, the country with the largest population in the Arab world (105 million people), which is currently experiencing an economic depression.
PM Modi visit to Egypt: After a four-day journey to the United States, where he met President Joe Biden, Modi, who has been in office since 2014, made his maiden trip to the ally nation in north Africa.
A spokesman for the Egyptian president stated that Modi and Sisi “signed a joint declaration to elevate relations to a strategic partnership,” which they had previously announced in January when Sisi visited New Delhi.
In addition to increasing its investment in Egypt, particularly in the field of renewable energy, India and Egypt have promised to increase their bilateral commerce by billions of dollars.
Egypt has experienced a protracted economic crisis, during which the value of its currency has fallen by 50% in just one year.
Recently, the government has taken steps to diversify foreign investors, including those from China and the Gulf states.
Modi received the Order of the Nile, Cairo’s highest decoration, from Sisi, and the two leaders reaffirmed their “mutual commitment” to advancing relations.
According to the presidency in Cairo, this would entail “increasing high-level visits,” “developing Indian investments in Egypt,” and “facilitating direct flights between the capitals.”
“India-Egypt Trade and Investment Relations Strengthened: Promoting Cooperation and Expanding Opportunities”
According to figures from Cairo’s central bank, India is already Egypt’s seventh-largest commercial partner, with $7 billion in trade between the two countries last year.
In January, the two leaders decided to enhance Indian investments in Egypt, which are presently worth over $3.15 billion, including by considering a “dedicated land area for Indian industries in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.”
Among them is a $12 billion green hydrogen factory being built by the Indian company ACME.
In order to protect its reserves and control inflation in 2022, India restricted wheat exports. However, it made an exemption for Egypt, the world’s largest buyer of wheat, as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
For the G20 conference that India will hold in September, Modi invited Sisi.