President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi gave a speech at the G20 summit on Monday, praising China’s presidency for prioritising the importance of industry in Africa and less developed countries.
The Egyptian president also welcomed the inclusive development plan set by G20 that is scheduled to be completed by 2030. During his speech, he said that Egypt is looking forward to collaboration among the international community to achieve the targets of this plan. Al-Sisi stressed that Egypt acts as a positive link between Africa and the world.
Al-Sisi also praised the efforts exerted during the summit to tackle the repercussions of the latest economic developments in the employment field, in order to be able to provide proper work and improve the labour market according to the principles of social justice.
The Egyptian president met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two countries over the past two years, particularly in the nuclear energy sector and the Russian industrial zone.
The two presidents agreed on sending a Russian delegation to Egypt within the next few days to finalise all needed technical studies to resume direct flights from Russia to Egypt.
Al-Sisi met with Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince Mohamed bin Salman, according to a presidential statement. During the meeting, the president stated that the two countries should work on accomplishing the results of the latest visit of Saudi King Salman Bin Abdel Aziz in April. Al-Sisi and Salman had signed the maritime demarcation deal, transferring the sovereignty of the Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir from Egypt to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Sisi also met with his French counterpart François Hollande, discussing both internal and regional developments. Hollande said during the meeting that France supports the economic reform programme adopted by Egypt, adding that he hopes this plan achieves promising results.
The two presidents discussed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the initiatives taken by several countries to solve it.
German chancellor Angela Merkel met with Al-Sisi, praising the preliminary agreement Egypt had reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a $12bn loan over three years. She also highlighted that Germany fully supports Egypt’s economic reform programme.
Al-Sisi is participating in the G20 summit for the first time since he took office in 2014, after he received an invitation from Chinese president Xi Jinping. The last summit took place in Turkey in November 2015.
