By Manal Abdel Fattah
Dr. Abdullah Al-Batash, Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports and head of the Egyptian delegation, participated in the “International Cooperation” session within the sessions of the World Youth Festival.
The session was attended by Kamal Dakich, Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs of Tunisia, Amon Murwira, Minister of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Development of Zimbabwe, Olga Petrova, Deputy Minister of Higher Education of Russia, Pavel Shevtsov, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Commonwealth Affairs, Yuri Panov, President of the Russian State Geological Research University, and Andrei Rudskoy. President of Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University and Chairman of the Union of Russian-African Universities Network, and Sherif Gad, Deputy Head of the Egyptian Delegation.
During the session, Dr. Abdullah Al-Batsh conveyed the greetings and appreciation of Dr. Ashraf Sobhi, Minister of Youth and Sports, indicating the Egyptian government’s interest in this major event and in developing Egyptian-Russian relations.
The Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports said, “I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the President, government and people of the Russian Federation for their generous hospitality and implementation of this important event, the World Youth Festival.”
These bilateral relations between the two sides are witnessing a qualitative leap thanks to the great support provided by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and President Vladimir Putin of Russia.”
Al-Batash explained that the agreement between leaders Sisi and Putin to declare the Year of Humanitarian Exchange a year of cooperation between the two countries, Egypt and Russia, was a window and an extended bridge to develop Egyptian-Russian relations, noting that the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs in Russia implemented many bilateral youth forums under the title “Forum.” “Egyptian-Russian Youth” in four different versions between Moscow and Cairo, which gained the Egyptian and Russian youth a lot of experience, and achieved the goal of these forums in consolidating relations through youth diplomacy, which is one of the closest tools in bringing peoples together.
The head of the Egyptian delegation gave a presentation on Egypt’s experience in the field of youth empowerment in the new republic and the great support of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, pointing to many programs and initiatives implemented by the Egyptian government to support youth and enable them to participate in various fields, expressing his aspiration to enhance cooperation between Egypt and Egypt. And Russia in the field of youth, stressing that Egypt will continue to support enhancing cooperation between African countries and Russia in various fields.
The session included many interventions from representatives of African countries, all of whom stressed the importance of cooperation between Russia and Africa in the field of youth and students through exchanging expertise and experiences, implementing joint programs and initiatives, and supporting youth participation in various fields.
