Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will meet with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire in Paris on Wednesday to discuss economic ties and bilateral projects, the French ministry said in a statement. "Bruno Le Maire will discuss means to facilitate investment and trade between the two countries and…how to best strengthen them in the future," read the statement, which was published on the website of the French government on Tuesday. The talks will also be attended by the Egyptian ministers of foreign affairs, trade, finance, planning, administrative reforms and transport. The president and the French minister are also due to meet 20 executives from French companies currently working or investing in Egypt, or planning to do so, to discuss investment projects, particularly in the fields of energy, telecommunications, transport and sustainable cities. Four letters of intent are scheduled to be signed at the end of the morning's meetings. They will include one to promote the entrepreneurship of young Egyptians, one to finance a study on urban transport for the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, one between France's SNCF state rail company and the Egyptian National Railways authority (ENR), and one between state-owned public transport operator RATP Dev and Egypt's National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) on operating a Cairo metro line. Egypt's transport minister said on Tuesday that Cairo is seeking to have France continue funding the construction of its third underground metro line, part of the country's decades-long cooperation with Egypt on building the Cairo subway. Hisham Arafat said Tuesday in comments carried by MENA that there would also be technical cooperation between Cairo and Paris to build two high-speed railway lines, as well as to bolster railway safety and security. Paris has previously provided Egypt with concessional loans for the construction of its underground system. Le Maire will also reiterate his support for the economic reforms introduced by El-Sisi over the past two years, while highlighting the importance of the country's economic partnership with Cairo, the statement said. Egypt's government introduced a series of major economic reforms in recent years to revive the economy, including cutting fuel subsidies, introducing a new value-added tax (VAT), and floating the Egyptian pound. El-Sisi began his four-day visit to Paris on Monday. Following bilateral talks with President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, the latter said he backs El-Sisi in his country's fight against terrorism and refused to "lecture" him on human rights.
