February the 20th, 2025 – Croatia and Egypt are set to strengthen their relations through a cooperation agreement between the ports of Rijeka and Alexandria.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, Croatia and Egypt will enjoy strengthened relations owing to an agreement on cooperation between the ports of Alexandria and Rijeka. That agreement was signed in Cairo by the prime ministers of Croatia and Egypt, Mostafa Madbouly and Andrej Plenković, opening the door for closer relations between the two countries.

The EU is Egypt’s most important trading partner, with a share of 25 percent of total trade with the world, and Rijeka is already cooperating with clients from the Egyptian market. Despite all that, the goal, as assessed by Marko Mišković, member of the Management Board of the Port of Rijeka, is for Rijeka to become the most important entry and exit point for Egypt in Central and Southeastern Europe.

“Connecting the Suez Canal and the strategically important Egypt with the Port of Rijeka, one of the deepest in the northern Adriatic, will strengthen Croatia’s strategic position as a transport and energy hub in this part of Europe,” said Plenković.

As part of the official visit of the Prime Minister and business people from Croatia, talks were held between sixteen Croatian companies and around twenty Egyptian companies. Some Croatian companies, such as HS Produkt, have not been present on the Egyptian market until now, but some have tried to renew previous good relations and cooperation with Egyptian companies. One such example is Elektroprojekt, which, according to the company’s director Davor Paradžik, last did business in Egypt back in 1987.

“We at Elektroprojekt expect that the B2B meetings will open up new opportunities for cooperation on energy and infrastructure projects in Croatia and Egypt, where our experiences have been positive,” stated Paradžik.

The talks were also led by representatives of Odašiljač i veza, which has stated that it is looking for new business opportunities and the continuation of activities in Egypt that began in recent years. The Zagreb-based company Tesla, on the other hand, tried to interest the Egyptian Ministry of Education in its solution for the digital transformation of education.

“We’re proud of the ongoing cooperation between Egyptian and Croatian companies in the field of energy. Our company is building a platform with Croatian and Greek companies in the Adriatic, and Croatia’s INA is participating in oil and gas concessions in Egypt,” said Egyptian Prime Minister Madbouly.

In addition to economic cooperation and jobs being opened in this large market of 110 million inhabitants, Croatia is increasingly linked to Egypt by workers who come to work in Croatia. Last year, 6.5,000 stay and work permits were issued to Egyptian nationals. According to the president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Luka Burilović, Croatian construction workers and employers have stated that Egyptian workers are skilled and very experienced bricklayers, ceramicists and roofers.
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