Japan to fund Cairo’s fourth metro line with over $700 million: Egypt’s PM

Ahram Online , Sunday 30 Apr 2023

Japan will provide funding worth 100 billion Japanese yen (around $733 million) to Egypt in the third tranche to finance Cairo’s fourth metro line, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Sunday.

Mostafa Madbouly
Egypt s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly speaks during Egypt-Japan Business Forum on Sunday. Cabinet

 

Madbouly made the remarks as he and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chaired the Egypt-Japan Business Forum.

The agreement to fund the first phase of Cairo Metro's fourth line was signed earlier today and was attended by both Kishida and President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The Japanese funding of Cairo Metro's fourth line is one of the largest packages to support the plan to develop transportation in Egypt, Madbouly noted.

The fourth phase of the metro will help link Sixth of October City and the archaeological area around the Great Pyramids with the underground train network, the Egyptian PM explained.

Egypt has been cooperating with Japan to implement the first phase of the fourth metro line over the past decade via four concessional loans provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the Egyptian state.

Egypt obtained the first tranche of the funding, worth 32.7 billion yen, in 2012; and signed the agreement on the second tranche, worth 41 billion yen, in December last year.

The new line will start operating in February 2028, according to a previous statement by JICA.

Late last year, Egyptian Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir said a group of Egyptian and Japanese companies are working to implement the first phase of the fourth metro line.

During the forum today, Madbouly said that Japanese direct investments increased by 52 per cent in 2021, with around 87 Japanese companies operating in Egypt currently.

Meanwhile, trade exchange between the two countries reached an average of $1.3 billion over the past five years.

For his part, Kishida affirmed that Egypt has the potential to receive further Japanese investments.

Kishida arrived in Egypt on Saturday for a three-day visit as part of his four-nation Africa tour. This is his first visit to the region since assuming office in October 2021.

During his visit, Kishida witnessed the signing of several MoUs and agreements between Egypt and Japan in communication and information technology, law and the judiciary.

Madbouly and Kishida also visited the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), carried out through a partnership between Egypt and Japan.    

 Kishida hailed the museum as a “symbol of Egyptian-Japanese friendship”.

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