It is clear from the media alone that relations between Egypt and Germany are booming these days. Part of that positive spirit was felt when I accompanied my colleague Reham El-Adawi to the Cairo Opera House last week, to a press conference held on the occasion of the German Festival 2004 titled "Germany and Egypt meet". In attendance were German Ambassador to Egypt and sponsor of the festival Martin Kobler, Director of the opera house Abdel- Moneim Kamel, and head of the Goethe Institute Johannes Ebert. My dear friend Kobler pointed out that the festival -- which aims to create a cultural dialogue between the two nations -- coincided with the National Day of Germany. He also noted that the opera season will see important German performances throughout October and November. Apart from the German Festival, which lasts until 12 October, another significant event is the open day at the German University in Cairo (GUC) which is open to all people of all cultures to come and interact. The strong relations are also reflected in the opening of Frankfurt Book Fair, in which Secretary- General of the Arab League Amr Moussa participated, and the "Arab book" was the showcase this year. Kobler added that on 5 November, President Hosni Mubarak is scheduled to open the exhibition of Tutankhamun and his gold treasures in Bonn. "We are cultivating bilateral relations with Egypt as a centre of culture in the Arab world, in the age of globalisation we have to narrow the gap and understand each other mentally through artists, poets, writers and musicians who act as messengers," concluded Kobler. Perhaps one day those strong ties will transcend further west. It is always nice to know that colleagues have made their mark across the oceans. One such success story is that of our very dear colleague at Al- Ahram Weekly Dahlia Hammoudah, wife of the Egyptian Ambassador in Tokyo Hisham Badr, who has just been named the chairperson of the annual Ikebana International Fair for 2004, first founded in Tokyo in 1956 as a worldwide organisation dedicated to the promotion of mutual understanding and friendship through Ikebana and other related arts of Japan. The organisation, Ikebana International, operates under the motto "Friendship through Flowers". Today there are more than 170 chapters in over 60 countries with around 9,000 members worldwide. The fair's head of honour is Japanese Princess Hisako Takamado, who has clearly recognised the great leadership potential of our dear Hammoudah in working towards global dialogue and peace. Recently, the third Canadian Education Fair in Egypt "Educ-Canada 2004" was held for two days at Conrad Hotel, Cairo and one day at Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria. Among participants in the inauguration ceremony were the newly named Canadian Ambassador in Egypt Philip Mackinnon, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Amr Salama, Al-Ahram Deputy Chairman of the Board and General Manager Ali Ghoneim and Counsellor of the Canadian ambassador Ulric Shannon. Canada, like Germany, is also placing much effort on its relations with Egypt. We hope other nations will follow suit. Last week, the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Cairo celebrated the 30th anniversary of its establishment. On that special occasion, Professor Manfred Bietak, director of the institute gave a reception which was attended by Egyptologists from Austria, Germany as well as Egypt. A conference on "The Nile Delta and its Contribution to the Ancient Egyptian Civilisation" was held on the occasion. The following day, Ambassador of Austria Kurt Spallinger held a party in honour of the Austrian Minister of Education and Culture Elizabeth Gehrar, who came to share in the institute's celebrations. The ambassador gave a speech explaining the achievements of the institute, which was followed by a short speech by Gehrar, who met in her three- day visit to Egypt Minister of Military Production Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Amr Salama as well as Secretary-General of Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass.
