Cairo – Nessma Youssef
Dr. Badr Abdel Aati, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, today, Thursday, during his presence in Paris to participate in the ministerial meeting on Syria.
Ambassador Tamim Khilaf, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that Minister Abdel Aati praised the distinguished bilateral relations between Egypt and France, the close ties between the two friendly countries, and the mutual keenness to enhance cooperation in various fields.
For his part, the French Foreign Minister conveyed the greetings of French President “Emmanuel Macron” to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic.
The two ministers discussed ways to enhance the distinguished economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and encourage French investments in Egypt, where Minister Abdel Aati reviewed in this context the measures taken by Egypt in recent years to attract foreign investments and develop infrastructure, logistics services, roads, tunnels, ports, communications and energy sectors, in addition to developing policies to create a business environment and empower the private sector.
The two ministers also exchanged views on regional developments, where Minister Abdel-Ati reviewed Egypt’s efforts to consolidate the ceasefire agreement in Gaza with all its provisions and three time periods, and the access of humanitarian and relief aid to the Strip, stressing the importance of starting the process of early recovery and reconstruction and the presence of Palestinians on their land, pointing to the necessity of establishing an independent Palestinian state based on the two-state solution to achieve peace in the region.
The meeting also witnessed a discussion of developments in Syria, where Minister Abdel-Ati stressed Egypt’s support for the Syrian people, the necessity of respecting the unity and integrity of Syrian lands, and the importance of starting a political process without excluding any components of Syrian society.
The meeting discussed developments in the Sahel region, the Horn of Africa and Somalia, where the Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed the importance of supporting security, stability and efforts to combat terrorism in the Sahel region, as well as the necessity of respecting the sovereignty, unity and integrity of Somali lands.
Minister Abdel-Ati reviewed the Egyptian position on the issue of water security, stressing the firm position on the necessity of reaching a legal and binding agreement to operate the dam without infringing on the rights of the downstream countries and achieving the common interests of all parties.
