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Cairo · 29 September 2026

The corridor is open

The Arab–Balkans Corridor was launched at The Nile Ritz-Carlton in Cairo — one route linking Arab markets with the Balkans and the European Union, in both directions.

Join the corridorRead the coverage

Developed by BDS Holding BV, The Netherlands · Endorsed by the Union of Arab Chambers

Two signatories seated at the signing table under the Cairo Launch Event banner, with seven officials standing behind them.
The signing of the Arab–Balkans Corridor, Cairo, 29 September 2026.
6diplomatic missions in the room
35outlets covered the launch
36pieces of earned coverage
2languages, Arabic and English

From the floor

A room, and then a route

Something was signed in Cairo on the last Tuesday of September, and the signing was the least interesting part of it. What the Union of Arab Chambers, the Federation of Egyptian Chambers and BDS Holding put their names to was not a trade agreement. It was a route — one contract, one set of rules, one number to call, running from the Arab markets through the Balkans and into the European Union, and running back the other way just as readily.

The room understood the difference. Ambassadors from six missions sat at the front. Behind them were the people who would actually have to move something along the route: steel, solar, shipping, agriculture, waste treatment, logistics. The speeches were short. The queue for the signing table was not.

“We are not drawing a new line on the map. We are making geography work for the economy.”

Dr Khaled Hanafy · Secretary General, Union of Arab Chambers
Delegates seated at round tables in the ballroom of The Nile Ritz-Carlton.
The Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo — the morning of 29 September.
A speaker addressing the room, in front of the event screen.
From the lectern.

The day

Signed, and witnessed

The corridor was signed in front of the delegation rather than behind a closed door. That was the point of doing it in the room.

The signatories shaking hands across the signing table while the officials behind them applaud.
The signatories exchange folders. The delegation applauds.
Two delegates shaking hands in the ballroom.
Before the programme.
Two delegates in conversation in the ballroom.
Between the sessions.
A printed corridor card on a table, carrying a QR code.
The card, and the code on it.
A delegate holding the corridor card beside a phone.
Scanning in — the corridor opens on a phone.

The partners

Where the corridor works

Two of the companies carrying the route, photographed at their own operations rather than at the launch.

An Antipollution Egypt vessel at sea, seen from above.
Antipollution Egypt at sea. The company provides port reception facilities for vessels transiting the Suez Canal.
The Antipollution Egypt vessel under way, seen from above.
Under way.
Six members of the Antipollution Egypt delegation standing in front of the event banner.
The Antipollution delegation in Cairo.

A day inside Elsewedy Electric

The corridor delegation was hosted across the group’s facilities — Elsewedy Transformers, Iskraemeco, Elsewedy Telecom and Elsewedy Cables (Egytech).

The corridor delegation in high-visibility vests outside the Elsewedy Cables building.
The delegation at Elsewedy Electric, Egypt.

The clippings

As it appeared

The coverage as it was published, on the page it ran on. Every cutting links to the original.

Join the corridor

One route. Both directions.

Arab markets · Balkans · European Union

Join the corridor

“One route. Both directions.”

SILA · the guide on the Arab–Balkans Corridor