Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Friday President of the Austrian National Council Wolfgang Sobotka to discuss various issues. The minister also called on Austrian investors to invest in the new axis of the Suez Canal and in Egypt's new administrative capital, a statement by Egypt's foreign ministry read. The Egyptian minister congratulated the head of the Austrian lower chamber on the occasion of his country's presidency of the Council of the European Union, which begins in July and concludes in December. Sobotka expressed Austria's aspiration to increase coordination with Egypt on important regional and international issues during the Austrian presidency. He noted that his country attaches special importance to the relationship in light of Egypt's regional and international status. He noted that the Austrian parliament has 47 friendship groups and is looking forward to establishing an Egyptian/Austrian friendship group. He also expressed his personal admiration for the great economic progress currently being witnessed in Egypt and said he looked forward to enhancing the fields of economic, trade and investment cooperation between Egypt and Austria. He also inquired about the foreign minister's assessment of the common challenges related to the issues of illegal migration and combating terrorism, which the foreign minister responded to in detail. During the meeting, Shoukry highlighted the indicators that show the Egyptian economy is improving due to the implementation of the economic reform programme in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund. Meanwhile, he called on Austrian companies to invest heavily in Egypt in the huge national projects, especially the development of the economic axis of the Suez Canal and the new administrative capital. He also pointed to the Egyptian state's interest in combating the phenomenon of illegal immigration, stressing that Egyptian-European cooperation is a common interest that adds to the strategic relationship between the two sides. On the counterterrorism efforts, Shoukry reviewed Egypt's vision of terrorism as the greatest challenge facing the peoples of our region in achieving comprehensive development and explained in this context the results of the comprehensive Sinai 2018 process and the comprehensive approach adopted by Egypt to besiege terrorist groups. The meeting also discussed the role of Egypt in dealing with the vital regional issues and the "worsening crises in the Middle East", the most important of which are the situation in Syria and Libya. Shoukry is currently in a European tour which started last week by a visit to Germany and will end in Austria.
