Sudan Embassy in Egypt: The First Egyptian-Sudanese Business Forum About to Take-off
Cairo – Sabah Mousa – Nazik Shummam
The Sudanese Embassy in Egypt announced the launch of economic events to address the economic repercussions of the war in Sudan and the reconstruction phase.
Deputy Sudanese Ambassador to Egypt Omar Al-Farouq revealed that the first economic conference to discuss the war’s impacts will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday in the administrative capital, Port Sudan. Meanwhile, the first Egyptian-Sudanese Business Forum will commence in Cairo next Saturday.
During a press conference on Saturday in Cairo, Al-Farouq emphasized that these events aim to foster open discussions and create new frameworks to mitigate the economic fallout of the war, which has disrupted production and economic mechanisms.
He noted that the Sudanese Embassy in Cairo is working to achieve economic integration between Egypt and Sudan and to reestablish connections between the private sectors in both countries. Al-Farouq also pointed out that while Egypt and Sudan have a joint business council, it is currently inactive.
He stressed the need to create additional mechanisms to strengthen relations between the two nations, highlighting Sudan’s resources that could support the Egyptian economy. He stated, “Sudan has much to offer Egypt.”
The head of the commercial sector at the Egyptian-Sudanese Company for Development and Investments, Engineer Munjed Ibrahim, highlighted that the war has negatively affected trade between Egypt and Sudan by 25-40%.
Ibrahim stated that trade exchange between the two countries amounted to approximately $1.5 billion before the war, describing it as modest. He emphasized increasing trade exchange to $10 billion within ten years.
He also noted that Egypt’s food gap is valued at $15-20 billion, asserting that Sudan’s economy, with its vast resources, could contribute significantly to closing this gap.
Ibrahim highlighted that all Egyptian investments in Sudan have halted due to the war, as most are located in affected states, particularly Khartoum and Al-Jazira. He called for integrating the Egyptian and Sudanese economies to achieve major benefits for the peoples of both nations.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Sudanese-Egyptian Integration Center, Dr Adel Abdel Aziz, affirmed that the initiatives for holding the first economic conference on the war’s impacts and the first Egyptian-Sudanese Business Forum aim to evaluate the war’s consequences and assess the damage through working papers presented by experts and specialists.
He revealed that specialized workshops will focus on leveraging Sudan’s vast resources to maximize revenues, particularly gold, which accounts for half of Sudan’s exports, amounting to $2 billion out of a total of $4.5 billion.
The economic conference will also discuss Sudan’s foreign relations, its external orientation, and the effectiveness of the government’s current economic policies, assessing whether they are on the right track.