{"id":663336,"date":"2025-04-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2025\/04\/07\/egypt-france-sign-strategic-partnership-agreement\/"},"modified":"2025-04-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T00:00:00","slug":"egypt-france-sign-strategic-partnership-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2025\/04\/07\/egypt-france-sign-strategic-partnership-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt, France sign strategic partnership agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good afternoon, all. <\/strong>While the international pages remain hyperfixated on the fallout from the Trump tariffs, the big story at home is more optimistic \u2014 French President Emmanuel Macron is on day two of his official visit to Egypt, giving us reason to believe that we could be seeing big-ticket French investments coming our way.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY TODAY-<\/p>\n

Egypt and France raised their relations to a strategic partnership<\/strong>, according to an Ittihadiya statement<\/a>. This follows a meeting between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and French President Emmanuel Macron, during which they also oversaw the inking of a number of MoUs, the statement read without providing further details. <\/p>\n

Before their meeting, the leaders attended the <\/strong>Egypt-France Business <\/strong>Forum,<\/strong> which should be winding down as we hit send. The forum<\/a> brought together a number of officials and private players from both countries \u2014 including GAFI\u2019s Hossam Heiba, SCZone\u2019s Walid Gamal El Din, and Business France\u2019s Didier Boulogne. The forum saw the two sides discuss cooperation in green hydrogen, renewables, healthcare, and AI.<\/p>\n

And to wrap up the day: <\/strong>The two leaders, alongside Jordan\u2019s King Abdullah, will hold a Gaza-focused summit.<\/p>\n

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AND- The EGP keeps on slipping against the greenback: <\/strong>The EGP continued to weaken against the USD today, slipping to fresh lows of 51.58-51.72 as foreign investors continue to exit the local debt market, though at a slower pace than yesterday. Banking sources EnterpriseAM spoke to believe there is no reason to worry and that the current level of outflows is normal and hot money will start flowing into Egypt once again after this wave of uncertainty comes to an end.<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD- <\/p>\n

All eyes remain fixed on Trump\u2019s tariffs as they continue to rattle global markets:<\/strong> Markets across the Asia-Pacific opened today with sharp declines, extending losses<\/a> triggered by the Trump administration's new tariffs<\/a> on nearly all US trading partners. Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 fell almost 8%<\/a>, reaching its lowest level since October 2023, and Australia\u2019s ASX200 dropped over 6%. Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng saw a 13% decline, registering its biggest one-day drop since 1997<\/a>, while China\u2019s CSI 300 lost 7%, stabilizing only after reports that a Chinese sovereign fund stepped in. <\/p>\n

Europe also also saw steep sell-offs: <\/strong>Germany\u2019s DAX plunged 10% before paring losses, while the Stoxx 600 fell more than 5%, with Bloomberg<\/a> estimating that the tariffs could put around 1% of Europe\u2019s gross domestic product at risk.<\/p>\n

The turmoil is boosting bets that the Fed will step up its rate cuts this year: <\/strong>Traders see the US Federal Reserve introducing an extra quarter-point rate cut this year and cutting interest rates as soon as next month as the risk of recession rises. This comes in spite of a statement from chair Jerome Powell on Friday indicating that the Fed is in no hurry to react<\/a> to the tariffs by cutting rates.<\/p>\n

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