El-Sherif made the remarks on the sidelines of the Egyptian-German Business Forum, which opened in Cairo on Monday.
He said Egypt and Germany aim to raise bilateral trade to more than six billion euros by the end of this year, with a longer-term target of nine billion euros by 2030. Egypt is also seeking to increase its exports to Germany to at least three billion euros within five years.
On investment, El-Sherif said the government is working to boost German investments in Egypt to six billion euros by 2030, up from around five billion euros currently.
Trade between Egypt and Germany reached $5.1 billion in 2025, while German investments in Egypt stood at about $4.9 billion, supported by the presence of more than 1,500 German companies, Investment and Foreign Trade Minister Hassan el-Khatib said.
El-Khatib made the remarks while inaugurating the forum, attended by Stefan Rouenhoff, parliamentary state secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and Germany’s ambassador to Egypt, Jürgen Schulz.
El-Khatib said the forum comes amid global shifts toward economic resilience, near-shoring, and trusted partnerships, describing Egypt-Germany economic ties as long-standing and investment-driven. He noted that bilateral trade is governed by the Egypt-European Union (EU) Partnership Agreement, which provides preferential market access.
He highlighted Egypt’s geographic position linking Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, supported by major infrastructure investments over the past decade, including transport networks, ports, logistics corridors, industrial zones, and new cities.
El-Khatib also pointed to recent economic reforms, including a shift toward inflation targeting, a decline in inflation to about 12 percent, foreign reserves exceeding $50 billion, and rising remittances from Egyptians abroad to around $37 billion.
He cited improvements in the business climate, noting that tax revenues rose by about 35 percent, the highest annual increase since 2005, in addition to lower trade and logistics costs, reduced by around 65 percent, generating direct savings estimated at $1.5 billion, while Egypt recorded its lowest trade deficit since 2010 at $34.2 billion.
He said Egypt is preparing to launch a digital platform providing more than 460 permits and services, alongside a unified trade platform offering detailed trade information.
El-Khatib highlighted renewable energy as a key competitive advantage, pointing to Egypt’s potential to deploy large-scale solar and wind projects and position itself as a regional hub for green industrial production and low-carbon exports.
He said Egypt is seeking deeper cooperation with German companies in strategic sectors, including automotive manufacturing and components, advanced industrial inputs, renewable energy and green hydrogen, electronics, and semiconductors.
Rouenhoff said German companies are showing growing interest in expanding investments in Egypt, citing infrastructure development and what he described as improvements to the business environment. He pointed to Siemens’ projects in transport and energy as examples of industrial cooperation and technology transfer.
On the sidelines of the forum, El-Khatib and Rouenhoff signed the minutes of the seventh meeting of the Egyptian-German Joint Economic Committee.
According to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, Egypt’s exports of goods and services to Germany over the past decade totalled about $7.8 billion as of 2024.
Short link: