Iran to invest 5 bln USD in Egypt

Iran will invest about 5 billion U.S. dollars in commercial and industrial projects in Egypt, over 30 years after the two countries severed diplomatic relations, Egypt' s state-run newspaper al-Ahram reported Tuesday. In the coming few days, Cairo will host a delegation of Iranian investors to discuss ways of cooperation between the two countries in private sectors. Meanwhile, Egyptian Ministry of Aviation is studying how to operate direct air route between the two countries and how to use the Cairo International Airport as a transit station for Iranian passengers heading for America, Africa and Asia, al-Ahram reported. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr said in mid December that Egypt saw a great strategic value in its diplomatic ties with Iran. Egypt and Iran severed diplomatic ties in 1979 after Cairo signed the Camp David Accord with Israel and offered asylum to Iran's exiled king Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.