ISLAMABAD: Islamabad and Cairo have agreed to establish a Pakistan-Egypt Business Council to institutionalize private sector cooperation and promote business-to-business relations between the two nations, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Sunday. 

Dar was speaking at a joint press stakeout with Egyptian Foreign Minister Dr. Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty, who arrived in Islamabad on Saturday to review defense, economic and diplomatic relations between the two states. 

Dar said Pakistan will hand over a list of 250 business houses, representing key sectors of the economy, to Egypt to boost commercial engagement. Cairo, in turn, will facilitate these businesses to enhance bilateral commercial engagement. Dar said six months later, another 250 businesses will be added to this list. 

“After that, a new Pakistan-Egypt Business Council will be established to institutionalize private sector cooperation and to promote mutually beneficial commercial partnership and B2B business promotion between Pakistan and Egypt,” Dar told reporters. 

He said once these two steps are taken, a Pakistan and Egypt Business Forum will also be established which will be co-chaired by Abdelatty and Dar.

“We have agreed that we will do for our countries this job and its first meeting will be convened in Cairo in the second quarter of 2026, to advance trade, investment and economic collaboration,” the Pakistani deputy PM said. 

Dar noted that the last Pakistan-Egypt Joint Ministerial Commission’s last meeting was held in 2010, around 15 years ago. He said both sides had decided to hold a meeting of the commission in the first quarter of 2026.

Abdelatty said Egypt was ready to work closely with Pakistan to address global challenges from countering “terrorism” to climate change as well as food and energy security. 

He said in the security domain, both sides have agreed to intensify coordination to counter cross-border “terrorism” and extremism. 

“In the economic domain, we are both strongly committed to significantly boosting bilateral trade volume and encouraging joint investments,” the Egyptian foreign minister said.

“I have invited Pakistani businesses to explore the promising opportunities available in Egypt, particularly in garment, renewable energy, connectivity, infrastructure, agriculture, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing,” he said. 

Dr. Abdelatty said Cairo looked forward to welcoming greater Egyptian investment and commercial engagement with Pakistan.

He welcomed Pakistan’s support for Egypt’s efforts to find a lasting solution to the Middle East crisis, inviting Islamabad to partake in the reconstruction of Gaza. 

“I also seized this opportunity today to formally invite Pakistan to actively participate in the upcoming Conference on the Early Recovery and Reconstruction of Gaza,” he said.

“We look forward to Pakistan contributing its expertise and resources to this crucial international effort to rebuild the lives and infrastructure of the Palestinian people.”