ByManal Abdel Fattah.
The European Union Ambassador to Cairo, Christian Berger, announced that the current year witnessed new initiatives between the European Union and Egypt in several fields such as defence, security, and water.
He added that Egypt and the European Union are chairing a forum to combat terrorism, and Egypt took over the co-presidency of this forum from Morocco this year. Several meetings were held and we are trying to increase our cooperation, as there was a visit by the naval forces and we agreed to establish close cooperation between Atlanta and the Egyptian naval forces.
This came in the annual press conference held today, Wednesday, to review the partnership between the European Union and Egypt in 2023.
The ambassador continued: In the field of water, Egypt has become an important platform for cooperation in this field in light of the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the European Union and Egypt at the climate conference held recently in Dubai, stressing that the European Union will continue its support for Egypt in existing projects in the water sector.
The ambassador referred to the economic situation in Egypt, saying: We contributed to increasing Egyptian exports to European countries to 50% compared to last year, and also increasing the export of natural gas.
A program was also established with the Ministry of Agriculture at the request of the Egyptian government and we began building silos, adding, “Most important is to ensure that the seeds will adapt to heat conditions and climate changes, which is a project being done with Italy.”
He added, next year we will discuss Egypt’s participation in the research and innovation program, and there will be a number of programs that we discuss with the Egyptian government.
He said: The year 2023 was full of important meetings and initiatives to ensure that Egypt becomes a platform for medicine.
Empowering youth and women has become an important aspect of the work that actually began last year, and we agreed to establish specific programs to support them.
He announced that an investment conference will be held at the beginning of next year with Egyptian partners, bringing in all European expertise to enhance joint investments.
“Gaza”
Regarding the situation in Gaza, the ambassador said: The European Union is cooperating closely in this matter, noting that there is a daily flight from the European Union carrying medical tools or food commodities that are delivered to the Egyptian authorities and then Gaza.
He announced that 26 flights have arrived so far at Al-Arish International Airport, and that aid to Gaza has been tripled, reaching 125 million euros.
