Currently, there are industrial partnerships between 4,500 Egyptian and Qatari companies.

Doha and Cairo are set to expand financial and economic cooperation, after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two countries on Tuesday.

Qatar’s Minister of Finance Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari and his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Maait announced the move during a signing ceremony at the second ever Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

This came just a day after Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea met with Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al-Abdullah Al-Thani to talk about encouraging Qatari businesses to engage in the Egyptian market.

That meeting also discussed ways to expand economic relationships between the two countries, and possible opportunities to capitalise on the potential offered by both Cairo and Doha.

Gamea also emphasised the significance of leveraging positive relations between the two nations’ leadership to strengthen economic, industrial, and investment ties. He invited Qatari businesses to enter the Egyptian market and take advantage of investment opportunities present in a wide range of productive and service sectors.

She also urged Qatari businesses to fulfil their import demands from the Egyptian counterparts across a range of industries. 

The deployment of eminent cadres to advance economic integration and collaboration, as well as how to restructure the Egyptian-Qatari Joint Business Council, were also discussed.

There are currently 4,500 industrial collaborations between Egyptian and Qatari companies.

The Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA), which has the potential to increase rates of trade exchange in the future, was also tapped into during the Monday meeting, as well as all trade agreements that have been signed between the two nations.

Al-Thani said Qatar is eager to advance its ties with Egypt in all sectors and at all levels.

An invitation was also extended to a delegation from the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry to visit Cairo soon.

$5 billion in investments

The Egyptian government stated in March that Qatar and Egypt had struck investment agreements worth a combined $5 billion in several industries.

It came after a meeting between the finance ministers of Egypt and Qatar, Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari and Maait, where they addressed bilateral trade between the two nations.

In order to improve their bilateral collaboration when diplomatic relations return to “their normal state,” Qatar and Egypt have decided to establish a joint higher committee under the direction of their respective foreign ministers.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the foreign minister of Qatar, visited Egypt during the time. This came after the signing of the Al-Ula Agreement in 2021, in which relations between Cairo and Doha were reinstated following a four year illegal air, land and sea blockade.

Sheikh Mohammed at the time also extended an invitation from Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to visit Doha.