CAIRO: Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri conferred on Monday with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg, the talks focused on bilateral cooperation, particularly in the commercial, economic and investment domains. Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs Ambassador Amr Helmi attended the meeting. Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, during a meeting with his Czech counterpart, called on the Czech government to encourage tourist companies to double the number of trips to Egypt. Amr said the security situation in Egypt has become stable and the Egyptian people welcome the arrival of more tourists. Amr expressed his hopes that Czech airlines will resume its flights to Egypt, Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Roshdi said. Egypt also looks forward to cooperating with the Czech Republic in the mine clearance domain, he said. Meanwhile, Industry Minister Mahmoud Eissa said in his speech before the Egyptian-Czech Business Forum that there are promising opportunities to increase economic cooperation between Egypt and the Czech Republic, especially in the fields of renewable energy, transportation, tourism and infrastructure projects. The formation of the Egyptian-Czech business forum is considered a first step to promote economic cooperation between the two countries, he added. The Egyptian government seeks to make use of the successful Czech expertise in the technology transfer field, he added. Eissa said that the coming period will witness more facilities offered to businessmen of both countries, pointing out that Egypt possess potentials to attract greater of foreign direct investments. Schwarzenberg told a press conference that the Czech-Egyptian Business Council is to hold a meeting soon to discuss means to increase investment in Egypt and double the volume of trade exchange between the two countries. Czech investments in Egypt are estimated at $ 60 million and described relations binding the two countries as deeply- rooted. He asserted his country's support for democratic transition in Egypt.
