Prime Minister Sherif Ismail meets with Toyota chief during Japanese business delegation’s visit

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail met with Toyota’s president John Karoubi and other members of a Japanese business delegation that was in Cairo for a two-day visit, Al Masry Al Youm reports. Ismail and Karoubi discussed Toyota’s ongoing projects in the renewable energy sector in Egypt, including a 1300 MW steam-electric power station in Upper Egypt, Ahram Gate reports. Karoubi said that his company is looking forward to increasing cooperation with Egypt in the renewable energy, petrochemical, and natural gas sectors. The delegation made no further mention of the fate of Japanese investments in Egypt, following Japanese ambassador to Egypt Takehiro Kagawa’s statements that Japan’s investments, which currently amount to USD 100 mn per annum, are at risk of shrinking due to the devaluation of the EGP since the November float, which we took note of yesterday. (We’re still not entirely certain how a cheap EGP — which makes USD go further for investors — would translate into a lower level of investment.)