We're keen to join India-Middle East-Europe Corridor: Egypt's trade min

Egypt's Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Hassan El-Khatib, on Wednesday said his country is keen to join the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEE Corridor), positioning the country as a vital link in this ambitious trade network.

El-Khatib highlighted Egypt's trade infrastructure and strategic location as compelling reasons for its inclusion.

Trade corridors are always welcomed, and we feel our location is unique, El-Khatib said, explicitly signalling Egypt's interest in the IMEE Corridor.

We told our Indian friends yesterday: you need to look at this. Our infrastructure is already in place, connected to major ports like Alexandria, and it's ready, the Egyptian minister told PTI Videos.

Unveiled on September 9, 2023, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, the corridor was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by India, the United States, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, and the European Union (EU).

The minister emphasized that Egypt's participation would enhance the corridor's efficiency, leveraging the Suez Canaldescribed as by far the most cost-effective trade corridor in historyand a newly developed inland network linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

El-Khatib detailed Egypt's efforts to complement the Suez Canal's dominance with alternative routes to address capacity concerns. We've created an inland road networktop-quality highways connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, he said.

This has been augmented by a high-speed rail project, currently underway with German technologyEl-Khatib also drew parallels between the two nations' economic goals.

India aims for 8 per cent GDP growth, while Egypt targets 6-7 per cent in the next few years. We share the same aspirations to onshore industries, become export hubs, and leverage our competitive labour forces, he said.

The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and its ripple effects, including the Houthi threat to Suez Canal traffic, have contributed to a decline in bilateral trade, dropping to $4.6 billion between April 2023 and February 2024, from USD 6.06 billion in FY 2022-23.