The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of Egypt, Abdelfatah al Sisi, yesterday expressed their desire to increase economic and trade relations between the two countries, especially in sectors such as transport infrastructure, water or renewable energies.
The official visit made yesterday by the head of the Executive to Egypt, the first of a Spanish Prime Minister to this country since 2009, had a strong economic, business and cultural focus and included several bilateral meetings with Al Sisi, the Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, and the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit. With this trip, Sánchez resumed the official visit to Egypt that was suspended last August in order to follow from Spain the evolution of the evacuation process from Afghanistan.
The day began with a Spanish-Egyptian business forum with the participation of the Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Mendez, and the Egyptian Minister of Trade, Nevine Gamea, and in which participated the president of CEOE International, Marta Blanco; the general director of the Chamber of Spain, Inmaculada Riera; and the directors of the numerous companies that accompanied the chief executive, belonging to sectors such as water infrastructure, wind energy and other renewables, railroads, aircraft or oil and gas infrastructure.
During the closing of the forum, in which Madbouly also participated, Pedro Sánchez expressed his confidence that economic relations between Spain and Egypt will increase significantly in the coming years in sectors such as transport infrastructures, water or renewable energies. According to Moncloa, the number of Spanish companies in Egypt has quadrupled since 2015, with more than 60 at present, and trade has increased from 1.8 billion to 2.59 billion in 2018. Apart from that, Spanish investment is responsible for the direct creation of more than 2,600 jobs in sectors such as: water infrastructure, wind energy, wind turbine and electric turbine technology, technology and innovation consulting, design and construction of military and civilian vessels, aircraft, train and railway equipment manufacturing, oil and gas infrastructure, and defense systems manufacturing.
In addition, Sánchez affirmed that trade relations between the two countries are diverse and flexible and expressed his confidence that they will be strengthened in the coming years. “The first data attest to this, they are encouraging: in the period January-August 2021 Spanish exports were accounted for 1,019 million euros, i.e. they grew by 8% compared to the same period in 2020,” he added.
The President also announced the renewal of the current Financial Protocol, which includes an increase in financing from 300 million to 400 million euros and which has been included in a Joint Declaration, and the signing of a Declaration to promote the creation of the Spanish-Egyptian Business Committee whose first meeting will take place in Spain in 2022.
Meeting with Al Sisi
Following the business forum, Sánchez held a meeting with Abdelfatah al Sisi, with whom he discussed bilateral, economic and trade relations between the two countries, as well as regional issues and matters of security, migration and human rights. Sánchez and Al Sisi had previously met in New York, on the margins of the 2019 UN General Assembly, and in Paris, during the recent conference on Libya.
At the end of the meeting, the two leaders read a statement to the press in which the president affirmed that Spain and Egypt are friendly countries that are “united by multiple political, economic and human ties.” “I believe it is time to boost trade and economic investment relations between the two countries,” he continued. “The business delegation accompanying me attests to the interest of Spanish companies to work in Egypt, to contribute to the economic and social development of the country, and I know that there are many opportunities, which for our companies will be decisive in the new projects being defined by the Government of Egypt,” he added. Besides, he declared, “after our meetings today, I can confirm the mutual desire to deepen our relations not only at the bilateral level, but also at the regional level”, because “Spain sees Egypt as a fundamental engine of relations with the Mediterranean and the Arab world from the European point of view”.
For his part, Al Sisi declared that Spain is “a major partner of Egypt” and advocated increasing trade between the two countries so that “Egyptian exports have the opportunity to enter the Spanish markets”. The two presidents, Al Sisi added, also discussed boosting Spanish tourism in Egypt, particularly in Luxor, Aswan, Sharm El Sheikh and other destinations, and the precautionary measures Egypt has taken against COVID-19. Following this appearance, Sánchez and Al Sisi attended the signing of two memorandums of understanding on culture and on youth and sports.
Later, Sánchez held a meeting with Prime Minister Madbouly, in which bilateral relations, regional agenda issues and the evolution of the pandemic were discussed, and was received by the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, with whom he discussed the relaunching of Spain’s Mediterranean policy and the situation in the region.
