The signing came during the first official presidential visit by a Montenegrin head of state to Egypt since the two countries established diplomatic relations, and was witnessed by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Montenegro President Jakov Milatovic.

Rear Admiral Ehab Salah, Chairperson of the Alexandria Port Authority, and Stanko Dretic, Chairperson of the Montenegro Ports Authority, signed the agreement in front of senior officials from both delegations.

The MoU itself is a framework document rather than a shipping contract. It commits both sides to cooperation on port management and operations, expertise exchange, digital transformation, capacity building, and environmental sustainability.

It also commits both authorities to study the establishment of a direct maritime link connecting their ports, a step both governments describe as necessary to support supply chains and expand trade and investment between the two economies.

Egypt and Montenegro sit on opposite ends of a logistics corridor that has, until now, gone largely unused. Alexandria faces the eastern Mediterranean, while Bar, Montenegro’s principal port, opens onto the Adriatic.

Officials on both sides framed this geography as the commercial logic behind the agreement, arguing it gives the two countries a natural role linking European markets with the Middle East and North Africa.

Speaking after the signing, Madbouly went further than the MoU’s own language, confirming that the Egyptian government wants to establish a direct shipping line specifically between Alexandria and Bar.

He described the route as a strategic project that would connect Egypt to the Western Balkans and Central Europe, while giving Montenegro a maritime gateway into Africa and the Middle East.

That characterisation reflects Cairo’s ambition for where the cooperation should lead, though the MoU’s own text commits the two port authorities only to studying the link, not to launching it on a set timeline.

The agreement fits into a broader push by Egypt to build out its port infrastructure and position itself as a regional hub for transport, logistics, and transit trade, a strategy that has run alongside investment in the Suez Canal Economic Zone and other maritime assets over recent years.

Wider talks beyond the ports deal
The maritime MoU was one output of a broader meeting between Madbouly and Milatovic, who arrived with a delegation that included Nikola Camaj, Vice-President of Montenegro’s Parliament, and Tamara Vujovic, Minister of Culture and Media.

The Egyptian side included Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Investment and Foreign Trade Minister Mohamed Farid Saleh, Higher Education Minister Abdelaziz Konsowa, and Industry Minister Khaled Hashem.

Madbouly welcomed Montenegro’s plan to open an embassy in Cairo, calling it a critical step toward a new phase of cooperation, and pressed for full activation of a political consultation mechanism the two countries agreed in 2025, this time with a defined timetable covering infrastructure, ports, trade, investment, culture, religion, and tourism.

On trade, Madbouly acknowledged that commercial exchange between the two countries remains modest relative to the strength of their political ties, despite recent growth, and called for institutional efforts to set concrete targets.

He singled out energy as a promising area, proposing a joint action plan spanning electricity transmission, energy storage, market development, electrical interconnection, renewable energy, and green hydrogen. Tourism also featured prominently, with Madbouly pointing to existing Egyptian investment in Montenegro’s tourism sector as a base to build on.

Milatovic, for his part, said his delegation wants to explore cooperation across parliamentary, investment, commercial, cultural, and educational fields, and described the port MoU as a vital step supporting logistical and commercial ties.

He also raised civil aviation as an area for closer cooperation, aimed at easing travel, trade, and investment flows between the two countries, alongside university exchange programmes in education. He praised Egypt’s role in regional peace and stability efforts in the Middle East.

Other threads discussed included cooperation between Al-Azhar and Montenegro’s Islamic Community on promoting moderation and tolerance, with Egypt offering to expand imam training programmes and scholarships for Montenegrin students, and the formation of the first parliamentary friendship group between the two countries.

Madbouly closed the meeting by directing Abdelatty and Saleh to follow up on the talks with clear implementation timeframes, a signal that Cairo wants the port MoU, and the wider set of commitments made alongside it, to move from framework to concrete action rather than sit as a diplomatic gesture.

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Free zones have emerged as a central pillar of Egypt’s investment ecosystem, offering a flexible and business-friendly environment that supports seamless industrial and commercial activities. Through a range of tax incentives and streamlined procedures, these facilities play a leading role in attracting both local and foreign investments, helping to enhance the national economy’s competitiveness and reinforce Egypt’s position as a regional hub for industry, logistics and international trade.

According to the latest government data, Egypt currently has 231 public and private free zones that are either operational or under development. In fact, international bodies like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have also highlighted the importance of these zones.

As per OECD, these free zones have emerged as a key driver of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows by offering competitive incentives and state-of-the-art infrastructure.

On the other hand, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported in January 2026 that Egypt ranked first in Africa for FDI inflows for the fourth consecutive year, supported by investment facilitation measures like electronic company registration services provided by the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI).

Free zone projects enjoy benefits like robust legal protections, including safeguards against expropriation or administrative seizure except through judicial procedures, along with extensive exemptions from customs duties and taxes on capital goods, production inputs, exports and imports, as well as value-added tax (VAT) exemptions on domestic inputs and transit goods.

Fitch Ratings also highlighted the advantages, such as tax and customs exemptions, unrestricted import and export activity, and simplified administrative procedures, that are making these strategically located facilities lucrative destinations for investors.

In 2025, 152 new projects emerged, bringing the total number to 1,243, up from 2014’s tally of 1,091. Invested capital, on the other hand, rose by 30.3% to USD 14.2 billion, including USD 2.8 billion in FDIs, compared with USD 10.9 billion in 2014.

“Total investment costs increased by 66.5% to USD 38.3 billion, while exports more than doubled to USD 9.3 billion, accounting for nearly 20% of Egypt’s total exports. Free zone projects now employ more than 248,000 workers nationwide,” Daily News Egypt reported.

Discussing ongoing major projects within these zones, Leoni Egypt produces around 45,000 automotive cables daily across three zones, in addition to operating 15 factories and employing close to 6,000 engineers, technicians and workers. Gid Textile, on the other hand, runs five factories with investments exceeding USD 250 million and 300 production lines. Yazaki Egypt, a private free zone project, has invested around 30 million euro.

Egypt’s roadmap for the 2026/27 financial year, will further implement targeted tax and customs facilitations (including expanding the tax base by increasing tax compliance without imposing additional or significant burdens), which is estimated to further help the free zones. Apart from targeting a growth rate of 5.4%, the country will allocate EGP 90 billion for various economic activity support programmes.

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The development also aligns with the North African country’s efforts to streamline procedures, maximise the benefits of trade agreements, and protect local industry in line with international agreements.

The newly released data said, “Egyptian gold exports also saw a substantial increase, reaching USD 7.6 billion in 2025 compared to USD 3.2 billion in 2024, an increase of USD 4.4 billion,” while indicating that the largest markets for Egyptian non-oil exports in 2025 included the UAE, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, as well as Italy and the United States.

The most important export sectors included building materials at USD 14.9 billion, followed by chemicals and fertilisers (USD 9.4 billion) and food industries (USD 6.8 billion). In October 2025, Egypt’s credit rating was upgraded by S&P Global to “B” from “B-,” while Fitch reaffirmed its “B” rating, citing progress in reforms and macroeconomic stability.

S&P said at the time that the upgrade reflects reforms implemented over the past period by the country, including the liberalisation of the foreign exchange regime, which boosted competitiveness and fuelled a rebound in growth. The announcement also coincided with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly’s observation, as the latter stated that both rating agencies’ decisions signal confidence in his government’s reform agenda and its expected returns.

In September, Egypt’s Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation reported that the North African country’s economy expanded 4.4% in fiscal year 2024/25, driven by a strong fourth quarter when GDP growth hit a three-year high of 5%. This reflects the impact of the more flexible exchange rate regime adopted since March 2024, which has helped stabilise the balance of payments, while also restoring investor confidence.

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The heads and representatives of ten prominent entrepreneurial companies met with PM Mostafa Madbouly to make the announcement.

The Prime Minister claimed that, particularly in light of Egypt’s young population, the government understands the value of encouraging entrepreneurship.

“Everyone acknowledges that this is a promising sector, and we will translate this into the Egyptian economy by providing the necessary support,” PM Mostafa Madbouly said, as reported by Zawya.

Under the direction of the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, the government has formed a special ministerial committee devoted to entrepreneurship to facilitate and encourage entrepreneurship in Egypt. To keep tabs on developments, Mostafa Madbouly also designated Amr El-Abd as the Prime Minister’s advisor.

El-Abd pointed out that the prime minister is giving this industry a lot of attention, and that the ten businesses in attendance are some of the fastest-growing in the area. With a combined market value of USD 3 billion, these businesses have drawn USD 1.04 billion in investments and produced USD 900 million in revenue. Approximately 45,000 jobs have also been created by them, which has improved Egypt’s productivity and competitiveness and placed it on the international entrepreneurial map.

“Efforts are underway to raise the size of this sector, aiming to increase investments from USD 500m to USD 5bn,” El-Abd said.

In their presentations, company representatives highlighted the investments they had made, the jobs they had created, and the difficulties they had encountered. Their businesses focus on several industries, such as retail financial services, consumer goods distribution, stock exchanges, healthcare, real estate financing, and financial technology.

In addition to expressing pride in their achievements, PM Mostafa Madbouly reaffirmed the government’s commitment to offering any assistance that may be required. He emphasised the ambitious goal of raising investments in the sector from USD 500 million to USD 5 billion. He asked for a comprehensive action plan that outlines the precise requirements needed to meet this target.

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The Prime Minister emphasised the significance of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade’s role in this critical stage.

According to the State Ownership Policy Document, the Egyptian government increased its efforts to support the private sector and draw in more foreign direct investments while maximising its potential in several industries.

PM Mostafa Madbouly stated that there was a rise in foreign direct investment rates in 2023, which he attributed to projects and programmes run by the government, such as the Ras El Hekma agreement. He emphasised the significance of maintaining these investment rates.

The Prime Minister made the point that bringing the foreign trade file under the Ministry of Investment aligns with the goals of improving coordination and hitting targets for expanding export markets and drawing in more foreign capital.

PM Mostafa Madbouly stressed that in order to accomplish the goals of the state in this area, collaboration and coordination with export councils and joint business councils are essential.

El-Khatib gave a presentation on the ministry’s role and future goals during the meeting, stressing the importance of combining investment and foreign trade because of their strong interdependence.

He emphasised that Egypt must make significant progress in the export and investment sectors. He also emphasised that the government must send investors a clear message about policy stability in the fiscal and monetary domains and its commitment to carrying out the state policy document.

In order to develop a clear plan for foreign trade and investment, the Minister continued, he will start holding meetings with all parties involved. He stressed that, in order to draw investment into Egypt, it is crucial to focus on large international investment organisations, especially in specific industries where industry is of the utmost importance.

The new Egyptian government aims to achieve a 4.2% growth rate in its first year, with the target of surpassing 5% during its reform programme, while shifting towards a greater role for the private sector in generating GDP and employment opportunities.

In a statement to the Egyptian Parliament on July 8, PM Mostafa Madbouly affirmed his government’s adoption of comprehensive economic reforms, including fiscal discipline and an annual average increase of 16% in public revenues until the fiscal year 2026-2027. Additionally, the government aims to increase female participation in the workforce to 19% by 2026-2027.

The new government now aims to increase the contribution of the green economy to the GDP by doubling the percentage of green public investments to total public investments to about 55% by 2026. Egypt also aims to become a global hub for green hydrogen production by 2030.

PM Mostafa Madbouly added that the government will work to stimulate both local and foreign investments through a national investment strategy (2024-2030) aimed at encouraging investment in several priority sectors supporting national economic growth targets. This includes increasing private investments to between 60% and 65% of total investments and raising the annual growth rate of foreign direct investments to around 14%.

The Prime Minister’s statement also affirmed the government’s goal to attract 30 million tourists by 2028 through multiple strategies to enhance competitiveness and sustainability in the tourism sector.

Additionally, the government’s agenda aims to transform Egypt into a global hub for logistics and trade by adopting various measures, including establishing integrated international logistics centres adjacent to seaports. This involves developing seven comprehensive international logistics corridors to connect production zones with seaports via fast and secure transport routes, including dry ports and integrated logistics zones.

“The Egyptian government also aims to develop ports by constructing new docks to extend the total dock lengths to 100 kilometres. It plans to enhance the Egyptian maritime fleet’s capacity to transport 20 million tons of diverse goods annually. The government is working to form strategic partnerships with major companies managing and operating global container terminals and shipping lines to ensure increased arrival and frequency of international vessels at Egyptian ports. It also aims to complete the implementation plan for establishing 31 dry ports and logistic zones,” reported Forbes Middle East.

Egypt has not yet announced its economic growth rate for the past fiscal year, but the former Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Hala El-Said, forecasted in June 2024 that Egypt’s economy would grow between 2.9% and 3%.

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