Minister of Trade and Industry Engineer Tariq Qabil held a meeting with his Spanish counterpart, Minister of foreign trade, Maria Luisa, to discuss the importance of strengthening the economic trade relations between the two countries. Â The meeting was attended by the Spanish Ambassador to Egypt Arturo Ovlao.
Qabil stated that the meeting previewed the future of bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in light of the distinguished political relations between Egypt and Spain. Furthermore, the two countries have enjoyed well-established economic relations, which contributed  to increasing intra-regional trade and joint investments within the last period.
Qabil clarified that they discussed the importance of appointing the Spanish businessmen in the Spanish Egyptian Joint Business Council soon. Egypt has already appointed the Egyptian members since mid of last year, said Qabil. The minister referred to the importance of the Council to support the investment partnership between the two countries.
The meeting additionally discussed taking advantage of the Spanish experience in many industrial fields, especially auto industry and its feedings, as Spain is the second producer of cars in the EU and the fourth largest car exporter in the world.
Qabil called on activating the joint declaration, which was signed between the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness in 2015 for transferring knowledge and exchanging experiences in fields of technology and innovation.
Furthermore, Qabil highlighted that Egypt agreed with Spain on sending a delegation including Egyptian experts to visit Spain and learn the enormous technological capabilities at research and technological entities.
On the other side, a joint Spanish mission will be sent to Egypt within the second half of this year, to get acquainted with the great development of the Egyptian industry in various productive sectors.
Spanish Minister of Foreign Trade Maria Luisa stressed that Spain is looking forward to expand the volume of the joint economic relations with Egypt, which is considered one of the most important strategic partners for Spain in MENA region. Â She pointed out that her visit to Egypt accompanied by a delegation including leading Spanish companies reflects the Spanish great interest in the Egyptian market.
She referred that the coming period will witness further bilateral cooperation, as the two countries have enjoyed numerous investment opportunities. Moreover, she notified that officials in both countries agree to give a strong boost for joint trade and investment relations within the next period.
