CAIRO, 15th June, 2022 (WAM) — Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi underscored the importance of enhancing cooperation with the European Union (EU) in the energy sector, whether related to natural gas or electrical grid.
This came in el-Sisi’s speech during a joint news conference with President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, which was carried by Middle East News Agency (MENA).
“It has been agreed with the EU on the importance of establishing the strategic partnership between the two sides in infrastructure field to produce green hydrogen as a clean source of energy,” said el-Sisi, highlighting his keenness on consultation and sharing views on means of deepening partnership and cooperation between Egypt and the EU across all domains, in addition to enhancing coordination on international and regional issues of common concern.
The talks with der Leyen addressed means of making a hopeful qualitative leap in the European-Egyptian partnership in the foreseeable future by enhancing cooperation in some sectors topped with clean energy, food security, electrical grid, agriculture, irrigation, vaccinations and digital transformation as well as others, el-Sisi pointed out.
He noted that the international community is going through a phase that requires wisdom by all nations and prioritising dialogue to solve differences and overcome challenges, indicating that there is a consensus with the EU on the necessity of coordinating international efforts with all partners to alleviate the impact of international food crisis, mainly on the most vulnerable countries.
For her part, der Leyen said Europe will support Egypt with US$100 million to secure food in the upcoming period, and the region with US$ three billion to face the crisis’ repercussion.
She added that the talks with el-Sisi focused on boosting cooperation between the two sides to enhance bonds in several topics to overcome the crises facing the world, mainly food security.
The EU is working to expand cooperation in energy, der Leyen said, indicating that the Russian-Ukrainian war caused a crisis to Europe as it depends on fuel from Russia.