Egypt is intensifying efforts to deepen economic partnerships with Germany and India, focusing on investment, development cooperation, and knowledge exchange, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Hussein Eissa said this week.
Eissa held separate meetings at the government headquarters in the New Administrative Capital with Jürgen Schulz, Germany’s ambassador to Cairo, and Suresh K. Reddy, India’s ambassador to Egypt, to explore opportunities for closer bilateral cooperation.
With Germany, Eissa highlighted the long-standing development partnership, noting that Berlin is one of Egypt’s largest European development partners. Current cooperation spans energy, water, sanitation, irrigation, solid waste management, and private sector competitiveness initiatives.
The Deputy Prime Minister reviewed the “Invest for Jobs” programme, implemented by the KfW Development Bank, which offers grants to investment projects selected for their potential to create employment opportunities. Priority sectors include construction and related industries, metal and electrical manufacturing, education and social services, food industries, transportation, logistics, information technology, and the hospitality sector.
Eissa also discussed the Egyptian-German debt swap programme, describing it as an innovative tool supporting Egypt’s green transition. Future phases may focus on industrial energy efficiency, green hydrogen projects, and technical education. Both sides emphasized strengthening economic and development cooperation to support sustainable development, attract investment, and boost job creation.
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In a separate meeting with India’s ambassador, Eissa underscored the historical ties and steady progress in economic, trade, and investment relations. He reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to expanding bilateral cooperation and opening new avenues for strategic partnership, particularly following Egypt’s accession to BRICS, which he said offers additional opportunities for economic and development collaboration.
The Deputy Prime Minister highlighted Egypt’s ongoing restructuring of economic authorities and state-owned companies, as well as an asset offering programme designed to maximise state asset value and attract local and foreign investors. This initiative will offer stakes in key institutions and companies across banking and financial services, energy, infrastructure, logistics, insurance, and pharmaceuticals, with India invited to participate through public offerings or strategic partnerships.
Discussions also focused on emerging fields such as innovation, technology, and digital transformation. Eissa encouraged cooperation in supporting startups and fostering collaboration between the innovation ecosystems of Egypt and India.
Capacity building and professional training formed another key focus. Eissa praised the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) for training a large number of Egyptian professionals and welcomed the recent increase in training scholarships allocated to Egypt. He suggested expanding this cooperation through specialised training programmes, joint workshops, and postgraduate scholarships at Indian universities to enhance knowledge exchange and institutional capacity building.
By strengthening ties with Germany and India, Egypt aims to leverage international expertise, attract strategic investment, and accelerate its economic growth agenda. Authorities see these partnerships as key to promoting sustainable development, creating employment, and supporting innovation across critical sectors of the Egyptian economy.
With private investment already surging, the government is using these international partnerships to complement domestic reforms, streamline investment processes, and enhance the competitiveness of the Egyptian market on the global stage.
Eissa concluded that deepening cooperation with strategic partners will not only expand Egypt’s economic horizons but also position the country as a hub for trade, investment, and innovation in the region.
Egypt has been actively seeking to deepen economic cooperation with Germany and India as part of a broader strategy to attract foreign investment, expand trade partnerships, and support economic recovery amid domestic financial pressures and global uncertainty.
Expanding economic partnership with Germany
Germany is one of Egypt’s most significant European economic partners, with cooperation spanning trade, industry, renewable energy and infrastructure. More than 1,500 German companies operate in Egypt, with total investments estimated at about US$4.9 billion. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached roughly US$5.1 billion in 2025, supported by the Egypt-EU Association Agreement, which facilitates preferential market access.
Egyptian authorities are now pushing to expand that relationship further, targeting higher German investment and deeper industrial cooperation. Cairo hopes German capital will help strengthen sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, energy and the green economy, areas seen as critical for long-term growth.
Germany is also playing a role in Egypt’s energy transition. In 2025, the two countries signed a €50-million debt-swap agreement through Germany’s development bank KfW to finance grid connections for wind power projects in Ras Ghareb and Gabal El Zeit. The projects are part of Egypt’s push to expand renewable energy and position itself as a regional energy hub.
Egypt aims to raise German investment to about €6 billion by 2030, reflecting Cairo’s strategy of leveraging Germany’s strong industrial base and technological expertise to support domestic industrialisation.
Strengthening strategic ties with India
At the same time, Egypt has been working to deepen economic relations with India, one of its largest trading partners in Africa. Bilateral ties between the two countries date back decades, with a bilateral trade agreement signed in 1978 based on most-favoured-nation principles.
Trade between Egypt and India has grown significantly over the years, reaching record levels in recent years. In 2022 bilateral trade hit about US$7.26 billion, while Indian companies have invested billions of dollars in Egypt in sectors such as chemicals, manufacturing, IT, and pharmaceuticals.
Both governments are now seeking to expand the partnership even further. Officials have set an ambitious target of increasing bilateral trade to $12 billion within the next five years, with potential cooperation in renewable energy, automotive manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and information technology.
India has also shown interest in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone, where Cairo is promoting foreign industrial zones and logistics hubs to attract global manufacturers and integrate into international supply chains.
Part of a broader investment strategy
Egypt’s outreach to Germany and India forms part of a wider effort to diversify economic partnerships and boost foreign investment. Over the past decade, the government says it has invested around US$550 billion in infrastructure, including roads, ports, industrial zones and new cities designed to attract international companies.
These initiatives come as Egypt seeks to strengthen its economy, which has been under pressure from inflation, currency depreciation and regional geopolitical tensions affecting trade and energy markets.
By strengthening ties with major industrial economies such as Germany and rapidly growing markets like India, Cairo hopes to expand exports, secure technology transfer and create new industrial capacity—key goals in its long-term economic development strategy.
