Al Gomhuria, p.6, (24-5-2008)

Enquiries

By: Abdallah Nassar

Following his participation in Davos Forum in Sharm Al Sheikh, the Indian Minister of Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh said to me that he feels that foreign investments in Egypt will increase and that India is keen on investing in Egypt.

He said: "In my capacity as a representative of India and the Indian PM Manmohan Singh, I met Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif and the Ministers of Trade, Finance and Investment in Egypt. I felt they are keen on encouraging investments."

He said: "I told Dr. Ahmed Nazif that the Indian investments in Egypt are about $800 million and India occupies the 11^th rank in foreign investments. We seek to raise these investments over the next 3 years to about $5-6 billion."

Dr. Nazif said: "We welcome Indian investments even if they come in the first rank among foreign investors. They are welcome."

The Indian Minister said: "Davos Forum was an important opportunity to know the investment potential in Egypt and the region in general."

"If you decide to invest in this region, you should go through Egypt. Egypt is a gate to Africa and the Middle East as it has privileges, political power and a desire to achieve stability in the region in particular and the world in general."

The Indian Minister of Commerce and Power spoke to me a good while about the need to accelerate the rhythm of investments movement in Egypt and giving approvals to projects.

He said: "We think Egypt has good investment opportunities which would be profitable for the two sides." The Indian Minister approached India's keenness on strongly returning to the tea trade in Egypt after it had almost stopped. A centre for promoting tea trade will be inaugurated in next August.

The Minister said: "There is a good opportunity for trade and investments. In terms of the tea trade, we are interested in three countries: Egypt, Pakistan and Iran." I asked the Indian Minister about his evaluation of the Egyptian economic reform program.

He replied: "The current steps go on the right path. No reform program goes on without facing difficulties, obstacles, resistance or objections. But, when you take into consideration the social dimension and the poor categories, you ensure the continuation of the reform program."

Surprisingly, the Indian Minister said to me: "What do you think about the speech of US President Bush in Davos Forum in Sharm Al Sheikh?"

I replied: "President Bush is not qualified to give advice. This is the opinion of the average person. It is enough to see what Bush did in Iraq, Afghanistan and several other places in the world. He did not even fulfil his promises. He is on his way to leave the White House at the end of the year."

The US President's speech, which was oriented to the US media, may support the campaign of the republican candidate. His words were ambiguous. He does not understand the regional conditions and situations. He breached all diplomatic rules and conventions. One diplomat among the attendees said it was not the first time for Bush to do so, for he did it before with the former Russian President Putin. Bush talked to him about freedoms in Russia and democracy. Putin said to him that the USA has to review and advice itself as its violations of human rights from Guantanamo to Iraq are undeniable.

The Indian Minister and his accompanying diplomats criticized Bush's unwarranted behaviour. I said: "President Bush has forgotten or ignored his promises for establishing two states, Palestinian and Israeli. He called for holding several conferences, but they did not bring any fruits on the ground.

President Bush will quit the White House leaving behind instable world economy, uncalculated adventures and stagnancy harming the Americans and all the world countries.

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