Egypt committed to boosting economic cooperation with Lebanon

Ahmed Abbas
2 Min Read
The Egyptian president Abd Al Fattah Al-Sisi held a meeting with the Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih berry Presidency handout

Egypt is committed to enforcing economic cooperation with Lebanon, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said during his meeting with Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri.

Al-Sisi praised the activities of the Lebanese workers abroad, especially in West Africa.

Berri said the next few years should see more investments between Egypt and Lebanon, pointing out that Lebanese investors are eager to benefit from investment opportunities in Egypt, especially as Lebanese investors are active in Africa.

Regarding Lebanon’s internal position, Berri emphasised the importance of ending the conflict between opposing Lebanese parties and electing a president as soon as possible.

The stability of all Arab countries is very important to Egypt, Al-Sisi confirmed. Current efforts should focus on achieving national unity in Lebanon, he added.

Regarding the Syrian war, Al-Sisi affirmed that a political solution should be achieved to maintain regional unity.

Lebanon has faced political unrest over the past year as its parliament has failed to elect a president for two years. Further, the Lebanese party Hezbollah was designated a terrorist group by the Arab League last month.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said last month that the Arab League’s recent decision is related to perceived acts of terrorism, but the group remains a domestic issue in Lebanon.

In an interview with local newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabaa, Shoukry said Hezbollah is considered a terrorist group in some countries, but has no classification in the international community as, according to the minister, the international community has not yet agreed on a unified definition for terrorism.

Shoukry also added that the Egyptian stance toward Hezbollah comes within the context of some acts of the party being considered acts of terrorism, but he insisted that the issue is a domestic, Lebanese concern.

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Ahmed Abbas is a journalist at DNE’s politics section. He previously worked as Egypt based reporter for Correspondents.org, and interned as a broadcast journalist at Deutsche Welle TV in Berlin. Abbas is a fellow of Salzburg Academy of Media and Global Change. He holds a Master’s Degree of Journalism and New Media from Jordan Media Institute. He was awarded by the ICFJ for best public service reporting in 2013, and by the German foreign office for best feature in 2014.
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