Morsi hopes BRICS will become E-BRICS

NEW DELHI // Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi said today he hopes his country can join major emerging market peers in the BRICS group as he pitched for Indian investment in his country's troubled economy.

Egypt has been battling to restore investor confidence, which has suffered since the uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

"I am hoping BRICS becomes E-BRICS with 'E' standing for Egypt" as the economy picks up, Mr Morsi said as he ended a two-day visit to India.

BRICS is an acronym that Brazil, Russia, India, China and recent member South Africa use to designate the bloc of large, fast-growing economies.

Mr Morsi said he had been invited to attend the next BRICS summit in Durban. He said he intended to push ahead there with proposals for a joint south-south investment bank that would allow countries to pool resources for infrastructure and other projects.

The Egyptian president said he hoped that trade between India and Egypt could double from $5.2 billion currently to $10 billion "within the next next few years".

He also insisted his country was on the final leg of its move to democracy and headed for a "new era" of development.

"Egypt has been witnessing a transition toward democracy and we're confident we're ending this transition stage."