The Ambassador of Egypt invites Cantabrian companies to strengthen collaboration ties
"From Atalayar magazine we want to build bridges between cultures". With these words by Javier Fernández Arribas, director of the magazine Atalayar, the seminar "Public diplomacy and cultural cities, shared experiences", organised in the Palacio de la Magdalena by the Santander City Council and the aforementioned media and focused on relations between Spain and Egypt, began.
Fernández Arribas, who opened the event together with the Ambassador of Egypt, Youssef Mekkawy, and the Director General of Culture of the Cantabrian City Council, Eva Fernández, stressed his conviction that understanding and coexistence can be achieved through knowledge, especially at a time when the international scene is very convulsive, and therefore advocated explaining and analysing what is happening in countries such as Egypt, taking into account the historical and cultural ties between Spain and Arab countries.
Relations which, as the Egyptian ambassador pointed out, date back to 1939, and not only in the political field, but also in the economic, social and cultural fields. Youssef Mekkawy explained the collaboration between the two countries and offered different data such as Spanish investments in 2021, which amounted to 225 million euros and which were destined to sectors such as transport, industry, energy, services, tourism, agriculture or information technology. In total, he stressed that they collaborate with more than a thousand Spanish companies.
The ambassador spoke of the efforts made by Spain and Egypt to create benefits for both countries, such as the constitution of a platform with some 25 companies where joint proposals and projects are put forward. In this sense, he encouraged Cantabrian companies to join this council, "We encourage not only large companies, but also small and medium-sized companies in Cantabria," said the ambassador, who said that, after the meeting held with business representatives, the intention is to organise a mission with Cantabrian businessmen to visit Egypt and see the possibilities and potential offered by their country.
After also highlighting that Egypt is one of the largest energy exporters in the region, that it has exported 600 to 800 million euros worth of liquid gas to Spain, and that it has set up important projects to improve the well-being of Egyptians, he emphasised the work of Spanish researchers and universities in different regions of Egypt to maintain its culture. For the ambassador, Spain "is an excellent and reliable partner that will always help us to achieve our goals".
The Director General of Culture, Eva Fernández, in her speech stressed that it is a pleasure for the City Council of Santander to host this seminar, now in its third edition, and had words of thanks for the Ambassador for coming to Cantabria on what is his first visit. She went on to explain the relations that Spain has always had with Egypt over the centuries, as well as its presence in Egyptology, highlighting researchers such as the archaeologist Miguel Ángel García Guinea, who is celebrating the centenary of his birth this year, and Professor Myriam Seco, who is also taking part in this seminar.
After the opening ceremony, a talk was given by Sabah Abdel-Razek, director of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, who explained by videoconference the history of this museum from the end of the 19th century to the present day, its different directors, extensions of rooms, exhibition of valuable pieces... as well as the new installations that this museum will house, which she defined as "the museum of all museums" and whose inauguration date has not yet been set.
Two round tables completed the day, the first on "Antiquity and prehistory as a cultural mark" which, moderated by Eva Fernández, featured the Spanish Egyptologist and professor at the University of Seville Miriam Seco, who is currently in Egypt; the Egyptologist Hassan Sellim, author of the book "Lands of Pharaohs and Civilisation", and the director of the Museum of Prehistory and Archaeology of Cantabria (MUPAC), Roberto Ontañón. All three focused on the importance of cultural heritage and the great legacy of our ancestors.
In the specific case of Cantabria, Ontañón advanced the work they are carrying out for the future Cave Centre which will house a permanent exhibition of 500 square metres and which they hope to inaugurate in 2023, as well as the new museum which will put "the Palaeolithic prehistory of Cantabria in the international place it deserves" and which he hopes will be a reality in 2025 or 2026.
The second round table dealt with "Libraries and cities", an event moderated by the journalist of the Diario Montañés, Guillermo Balbona, with the participation of Paz Delgado, from the Menéndez Pelayo Library, and Javier Martín Domínguez, correspondent and former president of the International Press Club.
The meeting praised the role of libraries, the figure of Menéndez Pelayo, the importance of Egypt in books and the need for administrations to work together to enhance the value of libraries, in the case of the Menéndez Pelayo Library, by dedicating more economic and personnel resources to it, according to Paz Delgado, who criticised the fact that such an important centre, with such a valuable collection, does not even have a director.
Both Balbona, who also criticised the lack of coordination between administrations to promote culture, and Javier Martín alluded to different authors from Alexander the Great to Borges, Kavafis, Elena Poniatowska, Alberto Manguel, to extol the importance of books and travel "as a source of knowledge".
The ambassador took advantage of his stay in Santander, a city of which he highlighted its great beauty, to hold various meetings with the region's authorities, such as the Regional Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Justice and External Action, Paula Fernández, and the mayoress of the city, Gema Igual. To both, he conveyed the embassy's desire to establish institutional, business and cultural relations with Cantabria, as it has done with other Spanish communities.
The ambassador, who was very satisfied with this first institutional visit to the Cantabrian capital, explained to them the possibilities that his country offers in different sectors and aspects and his desire to analyse them in order to establish and develop joint projects.
Youssef Mekkawy also exchanged impressions with the vice-president of CEOE, Miguel Ángel Cuerno, and with Nicolás Baland, from the Consorcio Group; and visited and got to know the facilities of this research centre, its simulation tank and the activities and projects being developed (climate change, marine energies, hydrodynamics and marine infrastructures, water quality...) with Raúl Medina, general director of the Environmental Hydraulics Institute. Nor did he want to leave without visiting the Botín Centre, whose building was designed by the architect Renzo Piano. The ambassador had words of praise for both entities.
