EXCLUSIVE- What the Joint Economic Commission means for Egypt-US ties — and US investment here: The Egypt-US Joint Economic Commission (JEC) held its launch meeting in Cairo earlier this month, with a broad delegation of US government representatives and businesses discussing the expansion of economic and business ties between the two countries. The commission was first announced in November 2021 as a working group to support Egypt’s green transition, the economic empowerment of women, and the focus on infrastructure and ICT investments.

Enterprise sat down with US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the US Department of State Whitney Baird to discuss the work of the joint commission and the next steps for the commercial relationship between Cairo and Washington. Edited excerpts from the conversation:

ENTERPRISE: Tell us about the JEC and its significance for Egypt and the US and the ties between the two countries.

MARISA LAGO:The relationship between the US and Egypt is one that is a century old; it’s broad, and it’s deep. The US has been Egypt’s largest bilateral donor for many years and we’re very much invested in the wellbeing of the Egyptian people. What came through from previous strategic dialogues and discussions was just this hunger to build on the economic and business relationship between the two countries because there’s already a tremendous business presence here from US companies and there’s real interest in discussing how we can move that forward.

There are already more than 1k US companies operating in Egypt and the US is one of the largest sources of FDI in Egypt. The JEC’s work therefore isn’t to start a commercial relationship, but rather to look for ways to position it for growth and for future success as the economy evolves.

The JEC was set up by our heads of state, which shows the importance that they place on the trade, the investment, and the commercial relationship between Egypt and the US. This is yet another way that our two nations can work together — and at a very high level. What we’re looking to do is to deepen the ties that we have in the economic trade and investment spheres to promote shared prosperity for the Egyptian people and for the American people. We want to prepare our economies for the future — not just succeeding today, but preparing for success in the future. And then we have to be realistic about the fact that we are experiencing global economic shocks and we will in the future, so we are looking to build in resilience to these shocks.

E: What were the key talking points during the JEC’s launch meeting?

ML: The JEC’s inaugural meeting focused on the key economic and commercial issues of the day: Energy and the transition to a future clean energy environment; the digital space; information and communications; technology — particularly as Egypt is investing so much in building out its infrastructure; supply chain resiliency; and food security. I was also very pleased that we discussed at length the economic empowerment of women. These are the topics that are front of mind when you have a healthy, strong bilateral economic relationship.

The JEC’s first session was a very strategic discussion about what are the areas that are priorities for Egypt and where the US investment and trading community sees potential for collaboration and for US companies to come here right now. This isn’t a country that’s new to US businesses — many have been operating here successfully for years. But as the Egyptian government identifies priority sectors, we know that we have companies with cutting-edge solutions — frequently tech-driven — in areas where it would be mutually beneficial. So we discussed how to collaborate, how to make sure that the commercial environment in Egypt is as attractive as possible to bring in this additional investment.

We recognize that there are challenges in the global economic environment, but there is also a big opportunity, and our discussions are focused on the future. For example, when people look at the clean energy transition, the focus has been on the need to address a challenge that is here now. But there is also a consideration for the potential jobs of the future.

E: For US companies looking at Egypt for potential investments, what are some of the driving factors for that appetite?

WHITNEY BAIRD:US companies look to the commercial business-enabling environment and they look to growth opportunities. Let’s take energy and the environment as a specific example. Egypt’s presidency of COP27 was an indication of commitment to moving the economy towards the green transition, which is a globally shared goal and is absolutely top of mind in the Biden-Harris administration. So US companies seeing Egypt saying, “This is the direction we’re headed” is an indication for them that there’s potential there for decarbonization solutions.

What businesses are looking for is, primarily, a sense of opportunity. And from what we’ve heard, US businesses see a lot of opportunity in Egypt, so we’re pushing on a pretty open door. Egypt also has promising market dynamics and demographics: An increasingly tech savvy population that is English speaking, a youth dividend, and the benefit of geography as a gateway to Africa — which across the board has this youth dividend as well.

ML:Many of these companies aren’t the multinational giants that are already present in Egypt — they’re the small and medium-sized enterprises that are innovative and that grow out of our research universities. They’re looking for where there is an alignment of Egyptian government interest and the tools and products that they have.

E: In terms of the tech space in Egypt, where do you see potential for US businesses to introduce their innovative solutions?

ML: I was really struck with how the Egyptian government has such a focus on the digital transition. Egypt is a country with a young population and there’s this entire generation of digital natives coming up who will be in an excellent position to be part of that growth. It therefore wasn’t unusual to see that focus, and we saw a lot of potential for mutual benefit — there are plenty of US companies with great solutions and some promising potential areas of application in Egypt.

This focus on digitization was particularly evident in our discussions on financial inclusion, particularly as it pertains to women in rural areas. There’s very detailed, intensive work happening on the ground to bring women in villages online and into the digital world in a way that removes some of the financial friction these groups face. It’s a way to formalize their financial transactions and build trust in the government, and the specific focus on women in that regard is a testament to the Egyptian government’s focus on empowering women. The empowerment of women is the ethical thing to do, but it’s also the right economic thing to do for the economy to reach its potential.

E: What are the next steps for the JEC?

ML: Now it’s about driving work forward into concrete action plans. We had constructive discussions with the folks who did all of the preparatory work for a successful launch of the JEC, and now they’re charged with putting these discussions into action plans. Our next JEC meeting next year will focus on initiatives that are already under way and setting a work plan for the future. With this focus on commercial trade and investment ties, we are positioning our two nations to succeed for the next 100 years.

WB: Altogether, the launch of the JEC was an entirely positive outcome — it sets us up to have ongoing discussions over the year to lead to the next check next year in Washington.