Britain doubles trade with Egypt to £6b

The United Kingdom plans to double the volume of trade between Egypt and Britain from £3 billion currently to £6 billion by 2015, according Lord Mayor of London Michael Pierre. In his speech before the British-Egyptian Business Association in Cairo, Pierre said his country will invest in Egypt in the fields of industry of financial services to meet the advanced and developing economic market's needs. He said his current visit to Egypt is the most important visit he has ever made. He also sees great challenges facing Egypt in meeting the demand to create a stable and transparent frame for businessmen. "Egypt has unlimited boundaries,” he said. “There are strategic importance and diverse economy that accompanied with strong industrial bases which are able to create the future especially in the field of communication and information technology, as well as Egypt has the increasing population which has great number of the youth." There are great challenges facing Egypt after the revolution to recover the economy, as growth should be raised 6 percent annually to create job opportunities for youth, whose numbers are estimated at 750,000. The growth of unemployment has also reached 12 percent. Egypt also faces challenges that settle in the Public Budget Deficit, which rose by 9 percent, as well as the increase of the inflation rate concerning the nutrition level, he continued. There are 1.5 million British people who visit Egypt annually. They contribute 10 percent to Egypt’s tourism income. The Lord Mayor said Britain is the only country that did not ask its citizens to leave Egypt’s Red Sea resorts during the country’s January 25 Revolution.