The Egypt Mining Forum has kicked off in its fourth edition at the Nile Ritz-Carlton hotel in Cairo on July 15. The two-day event is held under the theme ‘Accelerating Commercial Exploration, Discovery and Extraction and Achieving Value Added from Raw Materials’, to highlight Egypt’s vast mining potential and promise investment opportunities in the exploration, search, and extraction of gold and minerals, as well as the manufacturing of mineral raw materials, according to a statement by the ministry of petroleum and Mineral Resources.
“Egypt is open to all forms of investment. We stand ready to allocate additional areas for exploration and prospecting across all mineral types, reaffirming our unwavering commitment to expanding growth opportunities within the mining sector,” said Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, in his opening speech at the forum.
The forum is drawing high-level participation from ministers, mining officials, ambassadors, governors and parliamentarians. it also saw a significant participation by Investors representing leading international and local mining companies, most notably Barrick Gold and AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s second- and fourth-largest gold miners, respectively, alongside several financial institutions.
Bringing together over 5,000 visitors and 300 delegates, the strategic and technical conferences will host several important discussion sessions, with dozens of speakers participating.
On the first day of the strategic conference, a ministerial session will bring together Minister Badawi; Minster Fouad; Khalid bin Saleh Al-Mudaifer, Saudi Vice Minister of Mining Affairs; Polite Kambamura, Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development; Antonio Oburu Ondo, Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Hydrocarbons and Mining Development; and Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources. They will discuss ways to attract strategic partners and encourage exploration companies to invest to contribute to stimulating the long-term growth of the mining sector.
Furthermore, in a separate session, the governors of the Red Sea, Qena, New Valley, and Aswan will discuss their roles in driving investment into the mining sector and how to create an attractive investment climate in their governorates.
Ambassadors will also present their views during a session on the mining investment climate in Egypt. Another session will focus on major international mining investors to review ways to enhance Egypt’s competitiveness in the global mining sector.
The two-day forum comes at a time of great transformations occurring in Egypt’s mining sector, aligning with the third pillar of the Ministry of Petroleum’s strategy to increase the sector’s contribution to 6% of GDP in the coming years and turn Egypt into a regional hub for mining industries.
The government approved the transformation of the mineral resources authority into an economic entity under the name Mineral Resources and Mining Industries Authority. It also approved the reform of the Mineral Exploitation Agreement Model to attract investments.
The strategic conference will also cover other important sessions, including one on the new Mineral Resources Law. Participants will discuss the legislative reforms Egypt has implemented to improve performance, create an investment environment, and the investment opportunities created by the new legislative framework, according to the Ministry of Petroleum’s statement on Monday.
Another session will also address ways to boost the value of mineral resources and achieve added value by promoting local manufacturing of raw materials.
Several other sessions will address attracting foreign investment, highlighting the new digital investment portal for the mining sector, and the role of Egypt’s Eastern Desert as an integral part of the Arab-Nubian Shield, among other topics of critical importance.
The forum’s technical sessions will review the latest developments in terms of project implementation, sustainable best practices, and innovative technologies and solutions applied across the mining and metals industry.
During the sessions, industry experts will deliver insightful presentations, allowing participants to gain in-depth insights into how technology can be used to accelerate commercial exploration and stimulate mineral discoveries, said the ministry.
