Red Carpet Diplomacy: A Historic Welcome for Estonia’s President in a Landmark Visit
02:49 PM
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Books – Muhammad Sami:
Dr. Mustafa Madbouli, the Prime Minister, welcomed the President of the Republic of Estonia Alar Kares and his accompanying delegation to the headquarters of the Council of Ministers in the New Administrative Capital, where they held a discussion session on several issues and files of common interest.
The discussion was attended by Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Engineer Hassan Al-Khatib, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs Ambassador Wael Hamed, Egyptian Ambassador to Finland Ambassador Mohamed Ghonim and a non-resident of Estonia, the Ambassador of Estonia. Egypt, Ingrid Amer, and Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation, Sandra Saraf – Tamos and several officials of the Estonian Presidency.
At the beginning of the discussion session, Dr. Mustafa Madbouli welcomed the Estonian president to the new administrative capital during his first official visit to Egypt at the bilateral level, citing Egypt’s appreciation for his previous visit in the context of leading his country’s delegation. “COP 27” conference hosted by Egypt in 2022.
The Prime Minister indicated that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s reception of the President of Estonia reflects his interest in strengthening bilateral relations and developing joint cooperation with the Republic of Estonia.
Dr. Mostafa Madbouli stressed the Egyptian side’s interest in strengthening bilateral relations with the Republic of Estonia in various fields, especially economic, trade and investment, which contribute to the common benefits of the two peoples.
In this context, the Prime Minister expressed his desire to increase the trade exchange rate between Egypt and Estonia, welcomed the President of Estonia with an economic delegation, which reflects the interest of the Estonian side to strengthen economic and trade relations between the two countries.
He emphasized Egypt’s interest in strengthening the partnership with Estonia in the field of digital transformation and the successful visit of Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Amr Talat to Estonia in 2021, where he called on the Estonian side. Enhance bilateral cooperation in building Egyptian human and institutional capacity in information technology and digital transformation and artificial intelligence and cyber security, transfer Estonian expertise and provide scholarships and training for prominent Egyptian cadres in those fields.
The Prime Minister praised the existing level of cooperation between the two countries in the field of tourism, expressing his desire for Egypt to receive more Estonian tourism in Egyptian destinations, noting in this context that Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh are the main destinations. Tourists from Estonia.
Dr. Mostafa Madbouli indicated that Egypt is counting on Estonia’s continued support in improving relations between Egypt and the European Union, especially after the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Europeans, in light of the friendly relations between the two countries. Union, in light of the negative reaction the Egyptian economy is experiencing as a result of the turbulent geopolitical situation in the Middle East with reference to the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
The Prime Minister said in this context: Our economy has experienced an unprecedented negative reaction, as the revenues of the Suez Canal are decreasing significantly, so we look forward to continuing the European support to help the Egyptian state to face such challenges.
Instead, the President of the Republic of Estonia expressed his happiness with this important visit to Egypt and his arrival in the new administrative capital, which represents an impressive achievement built in record time, indicating that the relationship between Egypt and Estonia is witnessing. Great momentum at different levels.
The Estonian President added: Yesterday, we had a fruitful discussion with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi about the need to strengthen this cooperation to achieve the common interests of the two countries.
He added: I came today with a large delegation of Estonian businessmen and companies from various sectors, who want to establish a partnership with the Egyptian side, noting that his country enjoys a great competitive advantage in the field of communication, information technology and digitization, and it is in this field Seeking to increase cooperation with Egypt, he also looks forward to further cooperation in the field of tourism, especially since Egypt ranks fourth in the list of preferred tourist destinations for Estonian citizens.
The President of the Republic of Estonia appreciated the ability of the Egyptian state to establish the Grand Egyptian Museum and reviewed the possibilities of cooperation between Egypt and Estonia in the field of education exchange.
During the meeting, the President and Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia reviewed the negative effects left by the crisis and war at the international or regional level, especially the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and emphasized that the world has paid. The resulting heavy costs of these wars, besides forcing many to seek refuge in neighboring countries, added additional burden to the economies of these countries.
During the discussion session, Sandra Saraf-Tamos, Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation, who led the delegation of Estonian businessmen currently visiting Egypt, indicated a meeting with the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade to discuss ways to increase investment partnerships among Egyptians. and Estonian companies.
He explained that the delegation of Estonian companies includes companies working in financial technology and mining, adding: Many of our Estonian companies are working in Egypt, and many Estonian companies have come with us to work with Egyptian partners.
Instead, Engineer Hasan Al-Khatib said that the meeting with the Estonian delegation focused on increasing cooperation in the fields of education, digitalization, transportation and tourism and exploiting available investment opportunities, noting that he knows that Estonia is a major tourist destination. Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, however, have many tourist destinations that can be enjoyed, especially with the trial operation of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the Grand Egyptian Museum is indeed a huge structure that overlooks a magnificent view of the pyramids, noting that in the past he has held meetings and interviews at the Grand Egyptian Museum, the most recent of which was an interview with Kristalina Georgieva, Director General of the International Monetary Fund, and African Housing Ministers at a dinner table during an event at the World Urban Forum currently being held in Cairo, where those who attended the meeting praised them. Its excellent location is close to the Grand Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids. giza
At the end of the discussion session, Dr. Mostafa Madbouli expressed his desire to accelerate the pace of work to take further executive measures to exploit the current momentum of Egyptian-Estonian relations and push these relations to a greater level.