→عربي

Japan-Egypt Relations (as of July 2005)

Japan - Egypt : Bilateral Economic Relations

Japan and Egypt have long enjoyed good and friendly relations. Japan regards Egypt as its key Arab partner and as a vital country in the Middle East. The holding of the 2nd Japanese - Arab Dialogue Forum in March 2004 in Alexandria reflects this. Although the economic relationship has not yet realized its full potential, some recent efforts, both at governmental and private levels, have started to strengthen and promote bilateral trade and investments.


Bilateral Trade

Bilateral trade between Japan and Egypt has decreased in recent years. While Japan continues to enjoy a bilateral trade surplus against Egypt, the overall value of its exports to Egypt has been recovering toward the level of the 1990s to US$787 million in 2004. Egyptian exports to Japan have continued to fall, dropping to a value of US$ 59 Million in 2004.

While major Japanese commodities exported to Egypt include transportation equipment and electronic machinery, major Egyptian commodities exported to Japan are petroleum and petroleum products and cotton and cotton textiles.

Japanese Direct Investment to Egypt

Despite the government of Egypt’s strenuous efforts to improve its investment environment, foreign direct investment to Egypt is not growing very much. It is said that this is partly due to the crisis in the Middle East. The total value of Japanese investment from 1974 till 2003 is US$108.3 million. The most recent event was the launching of expand of operation in Egypt by Nissan.

Recent Events

In recent years, the increasing visits at both governmental and private levels seem to have deepened bilateral relations in the field of economic cooperation.

The year 2003 witnessed active official visits between Japan and Egypt. In February, Dr. Youssef Boutros-Ghali, the Egyptian Minister for Economy and Foreign Trade, visited Japan to attend the WTO Informal Ministerial Meeting held in Tokyo, while in June, Mr. Mogi, Japanese Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited Egypt to attend the WTO Informal Ministerial Meeting held by the Government of Egypt. In May, Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese Prime Minister and in October, Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, visited Egypt. On both occasions, it was agreed that bilateral economic relation should be further strengthened. In the field of economic cooperation, Mr. Kawakami, the President of JICA, and Mr. Shinosawa, the Governor of JBIC, visited Egypt in June 2003 and Mr. Watanabe, chairman and CEO of JETRO in June 2004.

As for private economic cooperation, the visit of President Mubarak, the President Egypt to Japan in 1999 resulted in the re-establishment of the Japan-Egypt Joint Business Council. Since its re-establishment, the Joint Business Council Meetings have been held alternately in both countries with the participation of many businessmen. They have agreed to exchange ideas and opinions to promote bilateral economic cooperation. The 6th meeting of this Business Council was held in Tokyo in April 2005. Dr.Fayza Aboul Naga, Minister for Int'l Cooperation and Dr.Ziad Baha El-Din participated in this event.

Mr.Carlos Gohn visited Egypt in June 2004 and announced Nissan's plan to expand its activities in Egypt and to invest $100 million by 2010. Nissan Egypt launched its production in early 2005. Egyptian consumer electronics company El-Araby, undertechnology licence by Sharp, started operation of its new air conditioning factory in Mubarak Industrial City in Quesna in April 2004.

Tourism

Egypt is one of the world’s most attractive countries for Japanese tourists for its relics of the ancient civilization. Internal and regional events, such as the Luxor attack of 1997, 9/11 2001 in the United States and the recent Iraq War, have had a negative influence on the number of Japanese tourists visiting Egypt. However, it has been resurging since the Autumn of 2003. In 2004, Egypt received 71,000 Japanese tourists which stands 25th worldwide.

Egypt Air operates 5 weekly direct flights between Japan and Egypt, 3 Narita-Cairo flights and 2 Kansai-Cairo flights.

 →Japan - Egypt Relations' Top

→Bilateral Relations' Top