Twelve (12) Japanese companies in the fields of Manufacturing, ICT, Venture Capital, Healthcare, Agrifood and Waste Management visited Egypt from 3 – 8 December 2022. The purpose of the mission was to find new business opportunities in this growing market with a 100 million plus and growing population, and export potential to Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

The mission was co-organized by UNIDO ITPO Tokyo, the Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East (JCCME) and the Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of Egypt in Tokyo. Several partner organizations also supported the mission, including UNIDO Egypt, the Embassy of Japan in Egypt, the Egypt-Japan Business Council (EJBC), the General Authority for Foreign Investments and Free Zones (GAFI), amongst many others.

The visit was kicked off on 4 December by the “Egypt-Japan Business Matching Seminar” co-organized with EJBC and attended by 50 Egyptian companies and institutions on 4 December, which comprised of a high level opening session, followed by introduction of Japanese companies and later culminating in a 5 hour long B2B session. Japanese and Egyptian companies realized approximately 110 business meetings.

On 5 – 7 December, mission members had meetings with the Japanese Embassy in Egypt, JETRO, JICA and visited the ElAraby Electronics Factory, the Suez Canal Special Economic Zone (SCZone), Orascom Development Co. and Saraya Corp. in the SCZone, and AlSokhna Port. In addition, sector visits were conducted in the Health, Industry/Manufacturing, and ICT sectors. Health sector companies visited the Elaraby Hospital in Menoufia Governorate and the Export Council for Medical Industries. Companies interested in industry/manufacturing visited Industrial Development Authority (IDA), Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC), Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (MSMEDA), and also the FoodAfrica Exhibition where food and agrifood technologies were exhibited. The Information Technology Chamber (ITC) & The IT Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and Smart Village welcomed companies interested in the ICT sector.

Through the active B2Bs, high level networking and interactions, Japanese mission members were able to gain a good understanding of the economic and business environment in Egypt and to positively consider new projects in the country. UNIDO ITPO Tokyo and JCCME will follow-up with participating companies to monitor their progress in the coming months, and report back their achievements.