Sisi invites Merkel to visit Egypt

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi underlined the depth of relations between Egypt and Germany and hailed their cooperation that has been growing remarkably over the past period after several German companies signed huge contracts in the different sectors in Egypt, especially engineering giant "Siemens’" work in the energy field.

During a meeting Sunday with visiting German Vice Chancellor and Economics and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Sisi said Germany is one of the most important trade partners to Egypt in the European Union.

The volume of trade exchange between the two countries hit 5 billion euros in 2015, Sisi said, adding that Germany is a large supplier of technological and industrial products to Egypt.

Sisi invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel to visit Egypt this year, presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said.

Sisi reviewed the political and economic developments in Egypt and the main challenges facing the achievement of security and stability and fighting terrorism in the region, the spokesman said.

For his part, Gabriel hailed the outcome of Sisi’s visit of Germany in June 2015, saying it gave political and economic momentum to the two countries’ relationship.

Sisi noted that the refugee crisis in Europe requires more attention to the region’s causes and finding settlements to the crises of some of regional countries to preserve their unity.

The formation of a national consensus government in Libya is a positive step, Sisi said, warning from the repercussions of the activities of terrorist groups in Libya.

Germany is keen on supporting the stability of Egypt and achieving development at the political, economic and social levels, Gabriel said, pointing out to the correlation between human rights and freedoms and the improvement of economic conditions.

An appropriate stage has to be set for the work of NGOs, the German official said, adding that he understands the size of challenges encountering Egypt at the regional and internal levels.

Sisi then held an extensive meeting with 52 representatives of the German business community in the presence of the ministers of electricity, foreign affairs, international cooperation, trade and investment.

He reviewed Egyptian government efforts to develop the economy, saying it was successful in securing the energy needed for the country’s ambitious development program.

Egypt has adopted a set of economic and legislative measures in the past period to promote investments, Sisi said.

A large number of national projects to upgrade the infrastructure was launched, including the construction of an administrative capital, new cities, ports, airports, industrial zones and logistic centers in addition to development projects in the Suez Canal region, the president said.

Egypt hopes that German companies would contribute to those projects as they offer different investment opportunities.

Source : MENA