Egypt + JICA sign funding agreement for Metro Line 4: The Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) will lend JPY 100 bn (c. USD 733 mn) to Egypt to finance the construction of Cairo Metro Line 4, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said yesterday. Officials inked the funding agreement yesterday following talks between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida in Cairo, according to readouts from Ittihadiya and the Japanese prime minister’s office. Madbouly was speaking at the Egyptian-Japanese Business Forum, held to coincide with Kishida’s visit to the country.

Metro Line 4: The first, 19-km phase of the fourth line will connect Cairo, Giza and Sixth of October City. It is expected to take six years to complete. The second, 23.5-km phase, will connect to New Cairo.

Sisi x Kishida: El Sisi met in Cairo yesterday with Kishida, who is in Egypt for the first time since taking office in 2021. The two discussed cooperation in investment and trade, education, health, transportation, and renewable energy. They also talked about recent economic, legislative, and structural reforms in Egypt and a number of regional issues, including the situation in Libya, Palestine, and Sudan, El Sisi said during a joint presser following the meeting.

Kishida praises Egypt: Kishida, in town for a three-day visit, expressed interest in the Suez Canal Economic Zone and discussed a number of infrastructure projects that Japanese companies are working on in Egypt. The Japanese prime minister pointed to Egypt’s “major infrastructure and promising economic zones,” highlighting Japan’s appetite for Egyptian investments.

More cooperation: Officials also inked yesterday a number of MoUs covering IT and legal affairs, as well as a strategic partnership agreement between Egypt’s International Cooperation Ministry and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The value of trade exchange between Egypt and Japan over the past five years recorded USD 1.3 bn, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said at the business forum.

A message of appreciation: El Sisi thanked Japan for its “contributions to the development process and national projects in Egypt,” pointing towards the Grand Egyptian Museum, Egyptian-Japanese schools, and the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology.

ALSO- MAAIT MEETS ARAB COUNTERPARTS-

Finance Minister Mohamed Maait met his Tunisian and Moroccancounterparts yesterday on the sidelines of the annual meeting of Arab financial institutions. The meetings focused on emerging markets’ role during global economic disturbances and the investment climate in Egypt.

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