Minister of Trade and Industry Tareq Qabil has said an agreement was reached with Russian companies during the Sharm El Sheikh international conference to increase the Russian companies' projects in Egypt.

In statements to Sputnik news agency on Monday, Qabil said some projects deal with small enterprises and others with heavy industries that will be established in the industrial zone which will be signed during the meeting of the joint economic committee on Tuesday.

He pointed out that the industrial zone will contribute to activating the mega projects between the two countries, saying that studies have been made to develop steel and iron factories.

The Egyptian-Russian business forum kicked off in Cairo Monday ahead of the meeting of the economic committee which will be attended by Qabil and his Russian counterpart Denis Valentinovich Manturov along with representatives of a number of Russian companies.