CAIRO: Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Gamea said that “Egyptian-Russian economic relations are witnessing a tangible development in terms of trade exchange and joint projects, especially the project to establish the Russian industrial zone in Egypt, as well as the existing cooperation in the energy and transportation sectors,” after a meeting with her Russian counterpart. The talks were held with Denis Manturov, the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade, on the sidelines of Gamea’s participation in the St. Petersburg International Forum. Gamea said that the meeting “discussed the importance of developing the trade exchange movement between the two countries during the current period, especially since the Russian market represents one of the most important global markets receiving Egyptian exports at rates exceeding $500 million annually.” “The meeting touched on the latest developments in the establishment of the Russian industrial zone in Egypt, which will contribute to achieving a major shift in the levels of commercial and industrial cooperation between the two countries through the settlement of a number of Russian industries in Egypt and the access of their products to a large number of international markets,” she said. “There was consultation on the Egyptian-Russian cooperation project in the field of transportation to supply 1,300 railway cars, as a large part of the cars were supplied in accordance with the contract concluded between the Egyptian Railways Authority and the Russian-Hungarian alliance, and the remaining quantity is being supplied,” she said. Manturov said that his country was keen to raise the levels of trade, industrial and investment cooperation between Egypt and Russia to new levels. This was in the interest of the Russian and Egyptian economies alike, with good economic relations between the two countries useful in developing projects. He said that the project of establishing the Russian industrial zone in Egypt represented one of the most promising projects on the Russian investment map, and the coming period would see positive developments within this framework