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YOKOHAMA: Plans for the establishment of new industrial zones in Egypt and Africa were unveiled Wednesday at the opening of a high-level business meeting in Japan.

Delegates attending the three-day Egyptian-Japanese Economic Forum were briefed on the commercial importance of creating an area in the economic zone of the Suez Canal, as well as a Japanese bank in Egypt.

The Egyptian Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Mr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of Trade and Industry, attended this forum, held on the sidelines of the seventh session of the Tokyo International Conference on the Development of Africa (TICAD 7), Yokohama. Amr Nassar, Japanese Ambassador to Egypt, Masaki Noki, President of Mohsen Salah, an Egyptian and Arab entrepreneur, alongside Egyptian and Japanese business leaders and investors.

Mohamed Abou El-Enein, vice president of the Egyptian-Egyptian Affairs Council, said that new projects and increased Japanese investment in Egypt would play a major role in strengthening relations between the two countries.

Abu El-Enein said the "great support" received from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revealed the high level of cooperation between the two countries.

The leader pointed out that Japan could reach Africa, Europe and the Middle East via Egypt's unique geographical location, and invited Japanese investors to establish an industrial zone in the economic zone of the Suez Canal . He also suggested the creation of a Japanese bank in Egypt.

Egypt and Africa seek to emulate Japan's experience in 12 countries and its great successes in Cambodia, India and Malaysia thanks to the presence of Japanese industrial zones in Africa, added Abu El-Enein.

He said that the cooperation between Egypt and Japan was currently in an exceptional phase and that there was a huge potential to achieve a lot more.

Abu El-Enein thanked Ministers Nasr and Nassar for their support to the Japanese Economic and Social Council and bilateral relations in general. He welcomed the expansion of Japanese companies in Egypt.

An Egyptian businessman, Ibrahim Al-Araby, said: "The path of development and progress in Africa starts from Egypt because it is the gateway to the continent . We must use free zones and create a Japanese industrial zone, especially with the Silk Road that crosses the Middle East.

"Egypt is not only a gateway for 100 million Egyptians, but 1.2 billion people in the African market."