New Joint Cooperation Committee to Assist Businesses and Investing between Bulgaria and Egypt
22 November 2018 News
‘Precisely a month ago in Cairo, Prime Minister Borisov and Egypt’s President, Mr Sisi, outlined a new course in the 90-year relations between our two countries and today, by establishing a Joint Cooperation Committee, my colleague and friend Minister Shoukry and I have started implementing this course.’ These were the words of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva during a joint press conference she hosted together with Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry.
Minister Shoukry is in Bulgaria for an official visit during which he is going to hold meetings with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and President Rumen Radev; he and Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva signed the agreement establishing the Joint Committee.
‘The Committee is going to develop programmes and plans to improve relations in fields like economy, agriculture, energy, education, culture and healthcare,’ Minister Zaharieva pointed out. She notified the media that the two countries planned to hold the first sitting of the Committee next year and stated that she hoped that the event would coincide with the long-anticipated visit of the Egyptian president in Bulgaria, which would be a first in the course of the two countries’ relations. ‘Yet, what is more important than signing agreements is ensuring better conditions for conducting business activities,’ Minister Zaharieva highlighted.
She also announced that diplomats in both countries were working on setting up a joint business council as early as the beginning of next year; it will be tasked with building together businesses in the two countries and facilitating investments. ‘Standing at over one billion dollars, the trade in goods between our country and Egypt peaked in 2017, yet there are fields that show further potential for development,’ Minister Zaharieva said. She went on to cite agriculture, high tech, and the pharmaceuticals industry as examples. ‘These opportunities can be developed not only through the increase of Bulgarian agricultural exports to Egypt, but also through an exchange of expertise,’ the Minister stated. ‘It is not by chance that agriculture and food production are some of the most important fields of cooperation for the Committee,’ the Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria highlighted. In light of this, she believes that Egypt can serve as a gateway to Africa for Bulgarian businesses.
Minister Zaharieva also announced that, during their plenary talks, she had acquainted Minister Shoukry with the Bulgarian project for construction of the Balkan gas hub and Bulgaria’s strategic wish to diversify its own sources of energy. ‘Cooperation between Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, Cyprus, and Israel is a prerequisite for having a further source of supplies for our hub,’ she pointed out.
Bulgaria’s highest-ranking diplomat highlighted Egypt’s role in achieving intra-Palestinian unity and consequently truce with Israel. ‘I would like to extend my special gratitude to Egypt and my personal gratitude to my friend Sameh Shoukry and Egypt’s President, Mr Sisi, for the efforts they put into resolving various regional conflicts,’ Ekaterina Zaharieva said. Earlier, over the course of the plenary meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that Egypt and Bulgaria had one major similarity: both counties are trying to guarantee security in their respective regions.
More photos
