The United States will discuss with the Egyptian government strengthening nuclear energy cooperation, US Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, said over a round table organised by the US embassy to Cairo on Thursday.
“We know that Egypt signed a contract with the Russian side to establish a nuclear power plant, yet we will keep discussing with Egypt about our latest nuclear technology which is rapidly evolving all the time,” Brouillette mentioned.
He asserted that the US has a very advanced nuclear reactor technology that can only be used in peaceful purposes.
US-Egypt Strategic Energy Dialogue kicked off on Thursday morning, Brouillette added, noting that he hopes to visit Egypt within the next 2 or 3 months to follow up on the dialogue.
“I knew that the Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El-Molla is expected to visit New York shortly and I offered to meet him there to extend our discussions,” Brouillette said.
The government is implementing an ambitious plan to export electricity to other countries in the region and be an energy hub, Brouillette noted.
He told Daily News Egypt that the energy sector in Egypt enjoys a ‘fantastic opportunity’ to achieve the plans of electricity interconnection with Europe.
“My current visit to Egypt was only to launch the US-Egypt Strategic Energy Dialogue. I won’t ink any agreements or meet the president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi,” he informed DNE.
The US-Egypt Strategic Energy Dialogue will offer Egypt a technical cooperation opportunity with the US, he explained.
US energy companies have always shared with Brouillette positive views on business opportunities in the Egyptian market following the economic reforms.
“I knew that Egypt faces some security challenges in North Sinai to resume the natural gas exporting line with Israel, but I am sure that Egypt is serious to accomplish this plan. Security is a concern,” he said.
The Egyptian government has taken several positive steps to improve the business climate for the energy sector and stabilise the energy supply.
Brouillette believes that such steps would encourage international companies to pump new investments in Egypt.
Brouillette asserted that the US stands by Egypt’s side to further improve its business climate and attract more US companies, noting that several giant US companies are implementing long term investment plans in the Egyptian market.
