By Manal Abdel Fattah
The fifth session of the Egyptian-Emirati Joint Consular Committee was held in Cairo, headed by Ambassador Ismail Khairat, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs for Consular Affairs and Egyptians Abroad, on the Egyptian side, and His Excellency Faisal Issa Lotfy, Assistant Undersecretary for Consular Affairs, on the Emirati side. The committee’s work was characterized by constructive dialogue and a spirit of understanding between the two sides, and was a reflection of the solid and established relations between the two brotherly countries.
The fifth session of the Consular Committee was held in support of the close brotherly and cooperative relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the sisterly United Arab Emirates, and out of the desire of the two countries to develop consular work between them and enhance its mechanisms, and in order to work to provide full and permanent care for the citizens of the two countries.
The committee’s agenda addressed consular issues and citizens’ affairs in both countries, and discussed a number of areas of cooperation, as the two sides agreed on the importance of exchanging technical expertise in the field of digitizing consular work and developing consular services provided to citizens. The two sides also stressed the importance of cooperation in the fields of training and capacity building to develop and modernize the customs system, and points of contact were exchanged between the customs departments in the two countries to begin joint coordination in this regard.
The two sides also agreed to hold a technical meeting between the Egyptian Ministry of Labor and the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation during the last quarter of 2024 to learn about the new laws and regulations related to labor issues in the United Arab Emirates, as well as to discuss aspects of joint cooperation between the two ministries.
At the conclusion of the committee’s work, the two sides stressed the importance of holding it periodically, due to its effective role in translating the aspirations of citizens in both countries, in addition to building bridges of cooperation in many technical fields, reflecting the depth and strength of relations between the two brotherly countries.
