Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigration Badr Abdelatty asserted on Saturday 26/10/2024 the depth and strength of Egyptian-Ukrainian relations.
In a joint press conference on Saturday 26/10/2024 with his visiting Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha and his accompanying delegation, Abdelatty said that the visit reflects the depth and strength of the relations between both countries.
Abdelatty said that Egypt was among the first countries to recognize Ukraine after its independence in 1992.
During the talks, Abdelatty was interested in discussing the issues of the Egyptian community in Ukraine in addition to exchanging points of view on several regional and international issues.
The talks tackled several issues of mutual interest, including means to boost bilateral ties in the political, economic, trade and educational fields in addition to other fields to improve these relations, Abdelatty said.
The volume of trade between both countries would reach 2 billion dollars by the end of 2024, he said, asserti
ng that Egypt is the number 1 trade partner to Ukraine in Africa and the Middle East.
Abdelatty reiterated the importance of the Ukrainian exports to Egypt, especially wheat, cereals and oils.
Abdelatty said that the talks tackled opening more Ukrainian markets for the Egyptian products and exports whether the industrial or agricultural exports.
The talks also tackled issues of investment and the importance of promoting the investment ties between both countries, especially in light of incentives and facilities presented by Egypt to foreign investors in addition to benefiting from the opportunities available in the economy and the Egyptian market, Abdelatty said.
The meeting discussed benefiting from the free trade agreements in Egypt, topped by the continental free trade agreement in Africa and the possibility to make Egypt an outlet for the Ukrainian exports to Africa via localizing the Ukrainian industries, he said.
The talks took up ideas on making a logistic center for grains and wheat in the Suez C
anal zone, he said.
Abdelatty asserted the importance of boosting scientific, educational, cultural and academic cooperation between Egypt and Ukraine.
Abdelatty said that a memorandum of understanding was inked for cooperation between the Egyptian and Ukrainian diplomatic institutes.
The talks tackled cooperation in Africa and the importance of this cooperation for more support to the Africans in the different domains, topped by technical, vocational training and building capabilities cooperation in Africa, Abdelatty said.
The talks discussed the catastrophic situations in the Middle East due to the Israeli continuous aggression on Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, Abdelatty said.
The meeting tackled the situation in the Red Sea and the danger of escalations and their negative impacts on trade movement and the Egyptian economy, he said, pointing out to the strenuous and serious efforts exerted by Egypt in cooperation with Qatar and the US to reach an immediate ceasefire and release the hostages in additi
on to ensuring full access of humanitarian and medical aid supplies to Gaza.
For his part, the Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine highly appreciates Egypt’s efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip.
Sybiha thanked Abdelatty, saying that his current visit to Egypt aims to discuss means of boosting cooperation on the basis of mutual interests.
The top Ukrainian foreign minister highlighted historical relations and cooperation between the two countries in various domains, including energy, tourism, education and food security.
“Ukraine is open to promoting cooperation with Egypt and activating the business council between the two countries,” Sybiha said.
He added that Ukraine is looking forward to restoring the dynamics of relations with Egypt.
As for Egypt’s water security, the Ukrainian top diplomat said the Nile River issue is an existential one for Egypt.
Ukraine supports a comprehensive dialogue among all parties concerned, Sybiha added.
Speaking about
development in the Middle East, Sybiha said: ‘We condemn all violence acts and affirm the necessity of protecting civilians and reaching a solution based on resolutions of the international legitimacy and the two-state solution.’
Sybiha said that talks with Abdelatyy tackled Ukraine’s Peace Formula that was tabled by Ukraine as the sole way to put an end to the crisis facing the country.
Sybiha added that he has invited Egypt to take part in the second peace summit on Ukraine.
Source: State Information Service Egypt