"I expect the Egyptian economy to start jumping ahead by the beginning of next year," said Rainer Herret, chief executive officer at the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GACIC).
Herret added that the Egyptian industrial infrastructure, for example, is intact, which should allow the economy to recover very quickly. "A lot of German investors are interested in doing business in Egypt," he said during a business meeting organised by GACIC, to discuss business opportunities in Egypt and Germany. Herret also pointed out that Egyptian exports to Germany increased by 77 per cent in 2011, while imports jumped by 21 per cent.
"Egypt has solved many of the problems that have appeared since last year's revolution," said Von Wesendonk, head of the economic department at the German embassy in Cairo. "There are a lot of investment opportunities in Egypt, and we hope we can make use of them."
But "stability and security need to be sustained in order to encourage investors to come to Egypt," said Oliver Liersch, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Transportation of Germany's Lower Saxony state. Still, many small and medium-sized businesses have shown interest in investing in Egypt, he added.
The most important opportunity for German companies lays in the ability to reach about 1.4 billion consumers through free-trade agreements signed between Egypt and other countries, said Alaa Ezz, secretary-general of the Federation of Egyptian chambers of commerce.
"Companies can manufacture their products in Egypt and benefit from customs exemptions if they want to export products to other countries," explained Ezz.
Moreover, Wesendonk said that German tourists have started to flow back to Egypt in big numbers. "There is no reason for tourists not to come to Egypt. Everything is ready," he said.
© Al Ahram Weekly 2012
