Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla received Christian Berger — the EU's Ambassador to Cairo — and his accompanying delegation on Tuesday. The two sides discussed areas of cooperation between the Egyptian petroleum sector and European companies, including efforts to develop ports and explore possibilities and follow-up projects in Egyptian ports and the maritime market in light of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed during the EGYPS 2022 Conference with the Belgian Port of Antwerp. They also tackled cooperation in maritime and river transportation, trade and circulation of natural gas and petroleum products, in addition to areas of cooperation in reducing emissions, producing and storing hydrogen, training cadres, and energy efficiency projects at petroleum sites, as well as Egypt's preparations to host the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP 27). For his part El-Molla highlighted that the areas of cooperation between Egypt and the EU are great, stressing the importance of accelerating hydrogen production and storage projects and energy efficiency projects, especially in Egyptian ports. He also pointed out how modern technologies play an important role in raising production efficiency and achieving high rates to preserve environment. Furthermore, the minister said that it is important to having a strong and integrated infrastructure in achieving the successes of energy sectors due to the flexibility it provides and different solutions and options for dealing with projects, stressing that energy efficiency projects with these facilities and petroleum sites would increase implementation rates and success rates of petroleum projects. For his part, Berger praised Egypt's record rates in the field of natural gas delivery to homes, as it represents tangible successes on the ground, expressing his pride in the EU's contribution to many ambitious and successful projects in the petroleum sector, whether through financing or providing technical support. Berger also noted that there are many areas and opportunities to expand cooperation between Egypt and the EU, especially the intention of one of the major Belgian shipping companies to come to Egypt this month to discuss the possibility of establishing a global centre for ship supply in Egypt.
