In the first diplomatic visit of its kind since he assumed power in France, President Emmanuel Macron arrives in Egypt to discuss political, military, economic, and cultural cooperation with his Egyptian counterpart President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi. The three-day trip is set to strengthen the ties between the two countries.
The French president is accompanied by his wife, a number of ministers, and fifteen executives from various French companies.
According to Enterprise, a number of economic agreements are scheduled to be announced. That’s including a cooperation agreement with the world’s largest wholesale food market, France’s Rungis International Market; the plan is to develop a branch to the wholesale market in Egypt. Their report also states that Peugeot is looking forward to following in Mercedez-Benz’s steps and assemble French cars here in Egypt.
France’s Macron has landed in the Egyptian capital to meet with Al-Sisi and a number of government representatives; he will follow up with a visit to the city of Abu Simbel in Aswan in Upper Egypt. On Tuesday, he will be meeting His Holiness Pope
Ministers of The Egyptian Economic Group will hold discussions with the French delegation to plan for an investment forum to be attended by a number of officials and businessmen from both countries.
The diplomatic trip complements a previous visit conducted in October 2017 by Egypt’s President Al-Sisi to Paris, where he was hosted by the French President not long after his inauguration. The two presidents discussed bilateral cooperation and France’s investments in Egypt. According to Al Masry Al Youm, those amount to 4.2 billion Euros with 162 companies employing 33,000 workers, while the trade volume is 2.7 billion Euros.
With the two countries agreeing on 2019 to be The French-Egyptian Cultural Year, we are not only looking at investments and economic cooperation. The harmony between both countries will extend to include arts and cultural exchange.
WE SAID THIS: Welcome to Egypt, Mr. Macron.