By Manal El Warraky
Ambassador Bart De Groof, the new Belgian Ambassador to Cairo, said that his country looks forward to continuing to strengthen bilateral relations with Egypt, which is a strategic partner for Belgium and the European Union.
During the celebration held by the Belgian Embassy in Cairo on the occasion of King’s Day, he stressed that his country looks forward to opening new areas of cooperation, including academic and cultural exchange, health initiatives, and further growth in trade and investment relations in close cooperation with our trade office and the Egyptian-Belgian Businessmen Association.
The ambassador added that bilateral economic relations are excellent and are evident in many joint projects, such as the Grand Egyptian Museum, which was established in cooperation with the Belgian company Besix, as well as the green hydrogen project signed by the Hyport Group during the Egyptian-European Investment Forum last June.
He explained that relations between Egypt and Belgium are old and have been embodied in many royal visits, the last of which was last year by Queen Mathilde and her daughter, Crown Princess Elizabeth, where they recalled the memory of Queen Elizabeth’s great journey in 1922 when she visited Egypt and watched the excavations of Tutankhamun’s tomb.
In another context, the ambassador praised the pivotal role played by Egypt in the Middle East region on the political and humanitarian levels.
The ambassador said that his country strongly supports the United Nations as the multilateral pillar of the international system, and that UN agencies such as UNRWA must be able to continue to play their important role in accordance with the UN Charter.
The Belgian ambassador praised Egypt’s ongoing efforts to resolve the crisis in the Middle East, including negotiations to achieve a ceasefire and release hostages, thanking Egypt for the continuous and diligent work carried out by the Egyptian Red Crescent in cooperation with the United Nations in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as the fruitful cooperation with Egypt in humanitarian relief operations for Belgians.
The ceremony was attended by: Minister of Petroleum Eng. Karim Badawi, Ambassador Wael Hamed, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs, and a large number of diplomats and foreign ambassadors.
