Egypt’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs Ambassador Badr Abdel Aaty met with a high-level Ukrainian delegation to discuss methods of strengthening cooperation between the two sides.
The cooperation focuses on the economic and commercial fields, and will work to attract more Ukrainian investments to Egypt. It will also look to increase the penetration of Egyptian products into Ukrainian markets, in addition to joint manufacturing in the field of heavy industries, transfer of production technology, and cooperation in agriculture, irrigation, and tourism.
Abdel Aaty presented to the delegation, headed by the Deputy Director of the Ukrainian President’s Office for International Relations Ihor Zhovkva, the favourable investment climate in Egypt.
He also outlined the advantages offered by the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), which is considered the gateway to Africa, especially with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) set to be introduced.
The talks also dealt with boosting joint Egyptian-Ukrainian cooperation in the field of space, in addition to ways of increasing Ukrainian tourism to Egypt. Ukraine was one of the first countries to allow its citizens to return to Egypt, following the Egyptian government’s decision to receive foreign tourists as of 1 July.
For his part, Zhovkva said that he came to Egypt on the authority of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This comes in implementation of what was agreed upon during a phone call between Zelensky and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in July.
During the phone call, Zelensky noted the Ukrainian leadership’s interest in strengthening cooperation with Egypt in many sectors, particularly in heavy industries, agriculture, tourism, and technology transfer.
The discussions also witnessed the developments in the situation in Libya, in light of the recent ceasefire agreement that was reached between the warring parties. They also reviewed the developments in Syria, anti-terrorism efforts in the Middle East, and the negative role played by some regional parties in the eastern Mediterranean region. The Ukrainian side is interested in acquainting itself with the Egyptian positions on these files.
