Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is heading to the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland, to present his country's vision for the national economy. Egyptian President al-Sisi is heading a delegation of the Egyptian Economic Group Ministers at the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday. Sisi is expected to present the economic reform programme adopted by Egypt to regain its position as one of the most important economies in the Arab, African and international regions. A discussion is expected to take place today on the second day of the forum that will involve the presence of al-Sisi and a number of heads of major international companies that are interested in learning about investment opportunities in Egypt, and the Egyptian government's vision for the Egyptian economy until 2020. The forum is hosting a special session on Egypt on Thursday, when al-Sisi is expected to deliver a speech, according to a presidential statement. "The special session is among the highest levels of participation in the forum," said Presidential Spokesman Alaa Youssef in the statement, adding that such a session is only granted to a limited number of state leaders. On 23 January, al-Sisi will be heading a closed meeting, which will involve the presence of 52 international figures, including heads of states and governments along with ministers and public figures. The meeting will discuss security risks and challenges in the Middle East and other regions that are posed by terrorist organisations. It will further discuss the undertaken and needed efforts for facing extremism and violence internationally through reviewing the possibility of cooperation between governments, the business community and the civil society to address the phenomenon of growing extremism and enable decision-makers to take into account the balance between civil liberties and security. Meanwhile, Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour met on Tuesday with Markus Leitner, the Swiss ambassador in Cairo, to discuss the participation of Swiss investors in the Sharm al-Sheikh economic summit in March. According to Nour, the Summit will give Swiss investors the chance to view investment opportunities in national projects, such as the Golden Triangle Project in southern Egypt, the al-Sebaeya Phosphate Project, new and renewable energy projects and small and medium enterprises. Abdel Nour called for the activation of the free trade agreement with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein that allows the entry of Egyptian products to the markets of central and northern Europe. The minister said that he is attending the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the sidelines of the forum and at the invitation of the Swiss Minister of Economy to discuss the latest developments in the WTO negotiations on development issues.
