In a meeting with his French counterpart Jean Castex, Madbouly said that Egypt already has a promising electric vehicle manufacturing program as part of its strategy to move towards a green economy, which presents an opportunity for French companies working in that field.

Madbouly added that Egypt needs water desalination stations to increase its water sources.

The Egyptian PM also said that Egypt recently depended mainly on French companies in constructing and managing public transportation like the monorail and light rail train.

Meeting with MEDEF

In a meeting with representatives from 90 French companies at the headquarters of the French Business Council (MEDEF) in Paris, the Egyptian PM said that there are more than 165 French companies investing a total of 5 billion euros and providing 38,000 jobs in Egypt.

The PM also said that trade between the two countries reached $3 billion in 2020, up 20 percent from 2019.

Madbouly also said that Egypt has successfully finalised the first stage of the economic reforms launched in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2016 and has adopted a comprehensive and lasting program to achieve economic growth based on amending monetary policies.

Meetings with Orange and Crédit Agricole officials

Madbouly also met with CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa Alioune Ndiaye and CEO of Orange Egypt Yasser Shaker in Paris, where he said that Egypt is keen to remove all obstacles facing the Paris-based telecom giant in Egypt.

The Orange representatives expressed the company's keenness to increase its investments in the Egyptian market.

The company, which currently employs 12,000 people in Egypt, seeks to inject an additional $300 million in Egypt in 2022, they said.

Shaker, for his part, said that Orange Egypt will launch a new digital centre in cooperation with the German development agency (GIZ) to train young people in various fields and qualify them for the labour market.

This centre will be one of only four Orange centres in the world, he said.

The Egyptian PM also met with CEO of Crédit Agricole Philippe Brassac, where the PM said he looks forward to expanding the activities of Crédit Agricole in Egypt, especially in the sectors of industry, agriculture, and IT. Finance Minister Mohamed Maait and Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker attended the meeting.

Brassac lauded the improvement in Egypt's business climate over the past period, saying that he looks forward to exploring more cooperation opportunities in the Egyptian market.

Minister Maait also pointed out that Egypt is the first country in Africa to issue green bonds, and expressed the country’s wish for further cooperation with the bank in this area.