Sisi’s participation in the G7 summit in Biarritz, France witnessed positive dialogues on Egypt’s bilateral relations with the United States and Germany.
US President Donald Trump on Monday congratulated Egypt for the great progress the country has made under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a meeting on the sidelines of the summit.
Sisi expressed his happiness and appreciation for the meeting with his US counterpart.
“The understanding, appreciation and mutual respect between Egypt and America is more than great. We congratulated you earlier, and will congratulate you another time,” he added, stressing that cooperation and understanding will continue between the two countries.
This is the second time Sisi met the US President during 2019. The first was in April at the White House, when President Sisi visited the US.
Egypt is the second largest recipient of foreign military financing from the US, which provides grants and loans to allow American allies to purchase defense equipment.
The US State Department sought US$1.3 billion in foreign military financing for Egypt in its 2019 budget request.
The US was the third-largest investor in Egypt in 2017 – 2018, while Egypt was the largest recipient of US investments in Africa and the second-largest in the Middle East. US investments in Egypt accounted for 17.7 percent of total investments coming to Egypt.
The volume of US investments in Egypt increased by 22.5 percent to reach US$2,244.4 million in 2017-2018 compared to $1,832.9 million in 2016 – 2017.
The total US capital in Egypt in non-oil sectors amounted to $2.6 billion distributed throughout 1,268 companies, while the total bilateral agreements signed under the program of economic aid reached $600 million since 2014.
On the German side, Sisi expressed Egypt’s appreciation for the continuous positive development of Egyptian-German relations and the joint commitment to developing them in all fields to benefit the two friendly countries and peoples, Ambassador Bassam Rady, Presidential Spokesman, said.
Sisi affirmed Egypt’s keenness to further strengthen all bilateral cooperation frameworks and enhance political consultation between the two countries on various regional and international issues in light of Egypt’s current presidency of the African Union and Germany’s membership in the UN Security Council.
Merkel praised the strong ties between Egypt and Germany and expressed appreciation for the great momentum witnessed in economic and trade relations, stressing the context that Egypt is one of Germany’s most important partners in the Middle East.
Merkel expressed her country’s keenness to coordinate with Egypt on political issues at the regional and international levels, pointing out that Egypt represents a key pillar for stability and security in the Middle East and Africa and in the Mediterranean region more generally.
The two officials discussed means to strengthen tripartite frameworks of cooperation in Africa in light of the current Egyptian presidency of the African Union and the Africa Partnership Initiative with the G20, which was presented by Germany in 2017 and hosts its annual meetings in Berlin.
The meeting also discussed a number of regional and international issues, including counter-terrorism efforts, illegal immigration, and political developments in a number of countries in the region, particularly in Libya.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
