Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, after meeting with Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in Tokyo on February 29, announced Japanese firms would invest 2 trillion yen ($17.7 billion) in various sectors in Egypt.

Abe, without providing much detail, said Egypt’s power industry was one of the targeted sectors. However, a high official from the Japanese ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that Japanese companies were to sign more than ten contracts with Egyptian firms.

As part of a tour in Asia, Egypt’s president started on February 29, a three-day visit in Japan, after passing by Kazakhstan.

Next, President Fattah al-Sissi will visit South Korea. It should be recalled that Egypt is presently struggling to restart its economy which is suffering from low investment and tumbling tourism industry, since population’s uprising against Hosni Moubarak in 2011.