Egypt

Political and Economic relations

Date of update: March 24th 2026 Information still valid as of today's date

Political relations

Bilateral relations between France and Egypt are based on strong, longstanding ties of friendship and confidence, and have developed considerably in all areas over the last four years.

High-level bilateral meetings have increased considerably, with visits at the level of Heads of State on an almost yearly basis: President Sisi to Paris from 25 to 27 November 2014; the President of the French Republic as guest of honour at the inauguration on 6 August 2015 of work to widen the Suez Canal; and President Sisi’s official visit to Paris from 23 to 25 October 2017; official visit to Egypt by the French President on 28 and 29 January 2019.

The two countries hold close political dialogue on regional issues, such as the Middle East Peace Process, Libya and Africa.

Egypt is also a key partner in the fight against terrorism.

Economic relations

France is a leading economic partner for Egypt. According to French customs, in 2017 France and Egypt posted an increase of 21.8% in their trade, which totalled €2.5 billion, after experiencing their largest decrease in ten years in 2016 (a 27.5% year-on-year rate decrease to €2 billion in trade).

According to the Central Bank of Egypt, France ranked 11 among Egypt’s trade partners for the 2016-2017 fiscal year (2.9% of Egypt’s overall trade), down a rank from 2015-2016 (3.4% of trade).

France’s economic presence in Egypt, made up of 160 subsidiaries of French companies employing more than 30,000 people, has also grown recently. French companies have strong positions in key sectors of the Egyptian economy, such as industry, agri-food, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, retail, hydrocarbon exploitation, tourism and infrastructure.

The signing of emblematic contracts for our companies regularly confirms the quality of our bilateral economic relationship. In the transport sector, the Cairo Metro is a flagship project for bilateral cooperation, with significant participation by French companies and enjoying French financial support (more than €2 billion in concessional financing since 1980). In the military field, several major export contracts have been concluded: sale of 4 corvettes by DCNS (May 2014); 24 Rafale fighter aircraft by Dassault Aviation; a multi-mission frigate by DCNS and weapon systems by MBDA (February 2015). In October 2015, Egypt also purchased the