Minister Plenipotentiary and Head of the Commercial Representation Authority, Yahya Al-Wathiq Billah, said in a statement that “Egypt is considered a large window to the Middle East and the African continent, and it is a major station on the Chinese Silk Road, in addition to being an important logistical center through the Suez Canal and its geographical location for the BRICS countries.”
He added, “By joining the BRICS group, there are major investment channels for the bloc’s countries, as new investment opportunities can be found in Egypt, not only because Egypt is an investment region, but it also represents an important central point for export to Europe and the African continent.”
He explained that Egypt “enjoys customs exemptions with the countries of the African continent, such as the COMESA region, which includes 21 African countries without customs duties, in addition to the proximity of reaching a continental free trade agreement by the end of this year, and thus customs duties will be removed at the level of 54 African countries.”
He added, “If any of the BRICS countries establishes a logistics center in Egypt, it can export, through acquiring an Egyptian origin, to 54 African countries without customs duties.”
The head of the Commercial Representation Authority said that Egypt is “interested in cooperating with this important bloc and with the countries that join it,” explaining that “the bloc represents 33% of the global economy, 42% of oil exports, and nearly 40% of the world’s population.”
He pointed out that Egypt “will work to advance the food security file and enhance cooperation in the field of medicine, as well as in the field of infrastructure between the bloc’s countries.”
BRICS is one of the most important economic blocs in the world, and its members include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS is an abbreviation of the first letters in English of the countries that make up the organization: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc represents about 30% of the global economy, 26% of the world’s area and 43% of the world’s population, and produces more than a third of the world’s grain production.
Member states established the New Development Bank with a capital of $100 billion to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects in member states, as well as emerging market economies and other developing countries.
The New Development Bank agreed to accept Egypt as a new member, and this was announced during the BRICS Leaders Summit meetings in December 2021. Egypt was approved as the fourth new member, as its membership was accepted as part of the first expansion of the bank’s global reach, and it was preceded, since September 2021, by Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.
Source: “Egyptian media” + “RT”
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2024-07-27 21:06:09