PM Modi discusses energy security, economy with Egyptian CEO, oil strategist

PTI, Jun 25, 2023, 12:00 PM IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions on the economy, infrastructure development and energy security with an Egyptian CEO and oil strategist during the visit to the Mediterranean nation.

Modi met Hassan Allam, CEO of Hassan Allam Holding Company, and Egyptian author and petroleum strategist Tarek Heggy in Cairo on the first day of his two-day visit to Egypt on Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

In a tweet, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Modi ”had a productive meeting with Mr. Hassan Allam, the CEO of Hassan Allam Holding Company. They discussed subjects pertaining to economy and forging closer cooperation in sectors like infrastructure and construction”.

According to the MEA, Hassan Allam is one of the largest Egyptian companies operating in the Middle East and North Africa region. ”They discussed possibilities of forging closer cooperation with Indian companies in renewable energy, green hydrogen, infrastructure and construction sectors.” Hassan Allam Holding is a leading private construction group focused on large-scale turnkey industrial and infrastructure projects, with a presence in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Algeria. It owns subsidiaries and affiliates in a range of complementary businesses, including steel fabrication, ready mix concrete, building technologies and electromechanical work, a concrete pipes factory and concrete roads joint-venture with Cemex.

The Prime Minister separately met Heggy. ”They had an enriching conversation on a wide range of subjects relating to global affairs,” the PMO tweeted.

”Discussions between the two covered issues related to global geopolitics, energy security, radicalism and gender equality,” an MEA press statement on the meeting with Heggy said.

Author of 30 books in Arabic, English, Italian and French, Heggy is co-founder of the chair of Coptic Studies at American University in Cairo and Tarek Heggy’s Scholarship in Jewish-Muslim Studies at the University of Toronto.