Latest news with #BenjaminDousa
Economic Key
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Economic Key
GB Auto Partners with Volvo Buses to Strengthen Exports and Promote Sustainable Growth
Mohamed Gamil GB Auto, a leading automotive company in the Middle East and Africa has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Volvo Buses. The purpose is to strengthen the collaboration on the export of Volvo buses and coaches from Egypt to the region. The agreement marks a step towards more sustainable industrial practices, with a shared focus on expanding capacity and export, investment in cutting edge industrial technology, and generating employment opportunities. The importance of Egypt as a key trade hub was underscored at the signing event, attended by Benjamin Dousa, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, and Egypt's Minister of Transportation Kamel al-Wazir, along with other high-ranking officials. Both governments reaffirmed the value of strengthening bilateral trade and industrial cooperation. As part of the agreement, GB Auto is investing in and upgrading its bus manufacturing facility in Ain Sokhna, Egypt. Volvo Buses will support the initiative by providing technical expertise, corporate know-how, and ongoing guidance to enhance production capabilities, optimize quality, and use ethically sourced and sustainable materials. Karim Gaddas, COO of GB Auto said: 'We are delighted to expand our partnership with Volvo Buses to export markets, a testament of GB Auto commitment to build quality buses, meeting and exceeding the industry standards. In 2024, we have started an investment plan, focusing on advanced technologies to upgrade our product performance in terms of design, durability and safety, while reducing our environmental impact.' Benjamin Dousa, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, said: 'Egypt is playing an increasingly vital role as a gateway for trade between Sweden, the EU, Middle East and Africa. This partnership between Volvo Buses and GB Auto reflects our shared commitment to innovation, sustainability, and regional growth.' 'This partnership is about expanding our reach and doing so responsibly. It involves integrating a sustainability perspective at every stage of the value chain. By working together with GB Auto, we are taking strategic action to further enhance the production processes and grow exports across the Middle East and Africa,' says Dan Pettersson, Senior Vice President, Business Unit Chassis, Volvo Buses, he added: 'This is fully aligned with Volvo Buses' long-term strategy to create flexible, market-adapted solutions for our customers and work with partners who can tailor production to meet the demands of both local and export markets' Since the start of their partnership in 1998, GB Auto has served as a regional base for exporting Volvo buses and coaches to countries including Jordan, Oman, Iraq, Cameroon, and Senegal. It's worth noting that this long-standing collaboration has laid the groundwork for the new Memorandum of Understanding, which builds on this foundation with a clear set of joint objectives: to strengthen quality and expertise, expand export capabilities, and develop premium commercial passenger transport products built on Volvo Buses chassis. تم نسخ الرابط
Zawya
28-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Egypt, Sweden discuss strengthening bilateral trade
Arab Finance: Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade and International Development Cooperation Benjamin Dousa visited Cairo and met with two Egyptian ministers to explore boosting bilateral trade and joint investments between the two countries over the coming period, as per a statement. Hassan El-Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, inaugurated the Sweden-Egypt Business Forum, noting that Egypt offers distinct investment opportunities for Swedish businesses in various production and service sectors. El-Khatib highlighted the importance of exploring these opportunities and establishing joint projects that serve the interests of the peoples and economies of both countries. He added that the government is currently working to create an attractive investment climate by implementing several financial, monetary, and trade reforms, which will provide further incentives for investors and facilitate foreign trade. On her part, Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, outlined the main axes of Egypt's national narrative for economic development. Al-Mashat elaborated that the strategy seeks to enhance the sustainability of macroeconomic policies, stimulate foreign direct investment (FDI), support industrial development and localization efforts, and support labor market and employment mechanisms. Finally, the ministers witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Volvo and GB Auto. © 2020-2023 Arab Finance For Information Technology. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Zawya
28-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Egypt, Sweden strengthen clean energy partnership with focus on storage, grid integration
In a high-level meeting aimed at advancing energy cooperation, Egypt's Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mahmoud Esmat, received Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade and International Development Cooperation, Benjamin Dousa, at the Ministry's headquarters in the New Administrative Capital. Also in attendance were Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt, Sweden's Ambassador to Cairo; Gaber Desouky, Chairperson of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company; Mona Rizk, Chairperson of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company; and senior officials from both governments, as well as representatives from joint Egyptian-Swedish renewable energy ventures. Discussions focused on strengthening bilateral collaboration across several strategic areas, including renewable electricity generation, large-scale energy storage, grid interconnection with Europe, green hydrogen production, technology innovation, and knowledge transfer. The two sides explored ways to integrate renewable energy more effectively into Egypt's national grid, enhance grid stability, and boost the efficiency of clean energy distribution. Emphasis was placed on storage solutions to optimize the use of intermittent renewable sources such as solar and wind. Key topics included wind energy, green hydrogen projects, and hydropower. The Swedish Development Finance Institute's support in funding studies related to capacity planning and the integration of renewables was also reviewed. Notably, the discussions included updates on a planned 1,000-megawatt independent battery storage system and progress on Egypt–EU electricity interconnection initiatives. The talks also highlighted ongoing projects involving Swedish firms and explored new investment opportunities, in line with Egypt's broader energy diversification strategy. Officials underscored the importance of private sector involvement and international partnerships in achieving the country's clean energy goals. Minister Esmat praised Sweden's continued support for Egypt's national energy strategy, which aims to raise the share of renewables in the energy mix to 42% by 2030 and 65% by 2040. He acknowledged the value of Swedish technical studies in supporting capacity planning and grid modernization. He emphasized that most renewable projects in Egypt are implemented by both local and international private-sector entities, including active participation from Swedish companies in solar and wind power. Esmat also reiterated Egypt's commitment to becoming a regional energy hub through cross-border electricity interconnection, enabling the export of surplus renewable energy—especially from solar and wind—to European markets. He stressed the importance of grid upgrades and increased renewable capacity in achieving this goal. Concluding the meeting, Minister Esmat reaffirmed that electricity remains a national priority, as it underpins development across all sectors. With its abundant wind and solar resources, Egypt is well-positioned to lead in clean energy. Recent legislative reforms have been enacted to attract investment and support the country's transition toward a sustainable, low-carbon future.
Russia Today
16-05-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
EU slams UK-US trade deal
EU trade ministers have criticized the UK's trade agreement with the US, warning that the bloc may consider retaliatory measures against Washington unless it secures more favorable terms for the bloc. The backlash follows a limited deal struck last week between US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which retains a 10% baseline tariff on British exports while easing higher duties on steel and cars. Trump has introduced a series of tariffs targeting European carmakers and metal producers. On April 2, he announced a sharp increase on all EU imports but later scaled that back to 10% for 90 days to allow time for negotiations. Speaking to reporters on Thursday ahead of an EU trade ministers' meeting in Brussels, Sweden's Trade Minister, Benjamin Dousa said, 'If the UK-US deal is what Europe gets, then the US can expect countermeasures from our side.' He added that he could 'barely' call it a trade deal, noting that 'the [10%] baseline is still there.' Dousa's concerns were echoed by his Finnish counterpart, Ville Tavio, who described the deal as 'not an optimal agreement for the UK [by] any means.' French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin urged caution, saying the bloc should be 'vigilant' about thinking that 'stopping at 10% reciprocal tariffs would be good news.' Poland's Michal Baranowski said the EU would not be 'happy with' a UK-style arrangement. 'I think we can have a better deal than staying with pretty high tariffs,' he argued. The European Commission last week presented a list of countermeasures that could target €95 billion ($106 billion) worth of US goods, if talks with Washington stall. Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro has warned the EU it would be 'making a grave mistake' if it went ahead with its plans, calling the measures counterproductive. The bloc had earlier paused retaliation after Washington temporarily held off raising tariffs for three months. This week, European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said he had spoken with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and agreed to intensify discussions. If no deal is reached by early July, the tariff could rise to 20%, as Trump seeks to narrow the transatlantic trade deficit, which he blames on the EU. Beyond the UK deal, Washington has also negotiated a partial rollback of sweeping tariffs with China. Beijing also criticized the UK-US agreement this week, accusing London of aligning with Washington under pressure. It argued the deal violates the 'basic principle' that international agreements should not target third countries.
Local Sweden
02-05-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
EXPLAINED: How Sweden's national brand is 'relatively weak' in India
Sweden has a 'relatively weak brand' in India, and to the extent that it is known at all, the country is not associated with having a stable economy or being a good place to study, visit, invest or do business, a new report from the Swedish Institute has found. Advertisement The 2025 report on Sweden's national brand found that Sweden was viewed considerably less favourably in India than in Brazil, China, the UK, the US, Japan or Germany. Sweden's brand was only weaker in one of the other eight major markets studied – Saudi Arabia. "Sweden is not that well-known and is seen as not being strong in the areas that generate positive opinions of other countries, such as having a strong and stable economy, products and brands in high demand, as well as being easy to do business with," the report, which is based on data from the Global Soft Power Index, reported on Indian perceptions. "There is a lot of potential here for Sweden to strengthen its brand to increase the attraction of Sweden as a business partner." Advertisement Sweden's trade minister Benjamin Dousa, speaking at an event held to launch Sweden's new branding strategy, said that Sweden needed to reinforce its image internationally as being an "open and freedom-loving country", pushing to lower tariffs and make trade easier at a time when other countries were pushing in the opposite direction. "A strong image of Sweden is essential for the competitiveness of Swedish companies and to combat misleading information about Sweden," he said in a press release. "Our message to the world should be clear: with Sweden what you get is a reliable and innovative partner which is good at cooperating." Where does Sweden fall behind in India? The biggest difference between Sweden's image in India compared to that of other countries was precisely in the perception of "reliability", which Dousa wanted to foreground and which is a quality on which Sweden and Swedish products are generally highly rated in other key markets such as the US, UK and Germany. Indians, though, rank Sweden only 31 in terms of reliability, whereas on average globally the country is ranked a much more impressive 3. It's a similar case with issues around corruption and good governance. Whereas Sweden is ranked 3 on average globally for having "high ethical standards and low corruption", in India the country scores a much worse 17. Globally it is ranked on average 2 on being "politically stable and well-governed" but in India it scores a lacklustre 36. While Sweden is widely praised for the quality of its education system, receiving a mark of 5 on average globally, in India, Sweden's education system is rated a middling 27. Sweden even falls behind on lifestyle issues in Indians' perception. Whereas the good work-life balance Sweden offers brings it a top-level ranking of 2 of for "attractive lifestyle" globally, in India it scores just 22. IN STATS: Advertisement Sweden and India have both attempted to strengthen their ties in recent years. With more than 280 Swedish companies active in India, Swedish exports to India last year amounted to 22 billion kronor, an increase of 17 percent compared to 2023. In the same period, Sweden imports from India increased 16 percent to 13 billion kronor. And all is not totally lost. On some qualities, such as "being influential in culture and entertainment" and "having products and brand the world loves", the appraisal of Indians, while still lower than the global average, is at least close to normal (19, compared to a global 16). Sweden is also on average seen slightly more favourably by Indians than Denmark and Finland, and only slightly worse than Norway. It is also slightly better known than the other Nordics. Why do you think Sweden has a relatively weak brand in India? Is Sweden's poor image justified? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
