Emirates and Egypt negotiate new avenues for cooperation and investment at the highest level
Representatives of the governments of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) met this past day to enhance bilateral relations between the two countries. The main points of the meeting were the development of international relations, negotiating new investment opportunities and cooperation between the two states in areas that could enhance the close friendship between the two countries.
The meeting was marked by expressions of closeness and fellowship between the two leaders. At the beginning of the meeting, Dr Sultan bin Ahmed al-Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, greeted the Egyptian Prime Minister, his government and the entire nation, and during the meeting Mostafa Madbouldy returned the gesture by highlighting the UAE's brilliant leadership in exploring investments in areas of interest to both states, including traditional and renewable energy, advanced industries, infrastructure, tourism and agriculture, among other areas that contribute to the economic growth of both states.
Dr Al-Jaber also met with other members of the Egyptian Executive, including Hala Elsaid, Egypt's Minister of Planning and Economic Development, with whom he discussed the trade progress of both states and the latest developments in joint strategic investments, and Dr Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, with whom he discussed opportunities for cooperation in the area of renewable energies such as wind and solar energy, and the possibilities for their countries to find new investment opportunities in renewable energies.
Also participating in the colloquium were Mariam Khalifa al-Kaabi, the UAE Ambassador to Egypt; Omar Suwain al-Suwaidi, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology; Mohamed Hassan al-Suwaidi, CEO of ADQ; and Mohamed Jameel al-Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, the UAE's leading renewable energy production company.
The meeting to negotiate new investment avenues adds to a long list of meetings between Emirati and Egyptian leaders in search of energy improvements. The two governments have already announced a deal to produce green hydrogen, which has already been described as a "historic" agreement. This is in line with Egypt's interest in moving away from more polluting energy sources towards green energy sources that will help curb climate change, one of the government's main concerns. Egypt has set ambitious targets to increase its capacity to produce clean energy by 20% by 2022 and 42% by 2035.
These energy meetings have recently been joined by Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennet at a summit on 23 March on the shores of the Red Sea, where Emirati leader Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Israeli prime minister himself agreed on regional cooperation to ensure the region's energy security. The meeting, which has gone down in history as the first tripartite summit between the two countries, addressed energy, market stability and food security. Egypt is currently the country most concerned about food health after the outbreak of Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent commodity prices soaring, forcing Cairo to devalue its currency by up to 14% against the dollar.
