Prishtina, 08.04.2013 – Minister of Economic Development, Besim Beqaj, in his official visit in Egypt, had a series of meetings with government and business community officials, to discuss the possibilities of strengthening the cooperation between the two countries.

Minister Beqaj met with the Egyptian Minister for Investment, Osama Saleh, with whom he exchanged general information about the economic situation in the country.

Beqaj also took the opportunity to disclose investment opportunities in the Republic of Kosovo, and stated that Kosovo could be strategic place for Egyptian businesses to facilitate economic cooperation with countries in Europe and beyond.

Minister Beqaj also requested recognition of Kosovo by Egypt, in order to formalize diplomatic, political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries.

Economic Development Minister stated that the trade between the two countries is very symbolic, and said that the private sector should exploit the comparative advantages of the two countries so that these commercial relations contribute to raise the level of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Beqaj met with Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade and Industry, Mamdouh Mustafa, with whom he discussed the investment potential in the Republic of Kosovo.

In this meeting, the Minister laid concrete development plans and projects implemented thus far, and proposed that after the formal recognition of Kosovo by Egypt, both countries would be more committed towards signing of the Cooperation Agreement in economy.

The Deputy Minister stated that Egypt considers Kosovo a friendly country, where businesses can expand their economic activities to penetrate into the EU market. He also called on Kosovo businesses to exploit the position of Egypt in order to penetrate the Asian and African markets.

Beqaj visited the Business Development Association in Egypt. On this occasion he presented the investment potential in the Republic of Kosovo and called on businesses to review investment opportunities in the Republic of Kosovo.

Beqaj accompanied by a business delegation, led by President of Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Safet Gërxhaliu, visited the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, where once again invited Egyptian businesses to exploit the favorable geographical position of Kosovo, in order to benefit from lower production costs exporting goods from Kosovo in the European Union and beyond.

This visit was also used for bilateral meetings between businesses from Kosovo and Egypt, to look at cooperation opportunities between businesses.

Beqaj stated that Kosovo businesses need to strengthen their productive capacities in different sectors, which can be used as an opportunity for investment by businesses Egypt.

Otherwise, during this visit, the Chamber of Commerce signed two Memorandums of Understanding with the Cairo Chamber of Commerce and the Business Development Association in Egypt, the latter in the presence of Ministers Beqaj and Saleh.