CAIRO: The United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary William Hague on Tuesday met with Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi and Prime Minister Hisham Qandil to boost cooperation between the two countries. A statement from the British foreign office said that both countries were looking to establish an “effective partnership” going forward. “This visit has served to further broaden and deepen already strong ties existing between our two countries,” Hague said after his meetings. “I told President Morsi that Britain will continue to support the political and economic transition in Egypt and I delivered a letter from Prime Minister David Cameron to President Morsi inviting the President to visit London in the near future. We want to build an effective partnership which will strengthen democracy in Egypt, build prosperity and increase security for the people of both our countries,” he added. It comes on the heels of tension between the two countries after a BBC Arabic report questioned the British government's actions to freeze and secure illegal funds by members of the former Hosni Mubarak regime in Egypt. The report also cited a number of top officials who fled Egypt during the January 2011 uprising to the UK buying property in the country and living “normal lives” despite facing charges in Cairo. At the same time, Hague pushed the economic ties between the two countries. “Our economic ties are strong. The UK is the largest foreign investor in Egypt, and during this visit I have met with British companies operating here. But we want to do more and I am pleased to announce that our Minister for Trade will lead a large delegation to Egypt covering key sectors, building on the very successful visit by the Prime Minister in 2011,” he said. “We also discussed the recovery and restraint of Egyptian assets in the UK. To take this important work forward, the UK has proposed seconding an expert to work in the Egyptian Prosecutor General's Office.” The meetings were Hague's first since Morsi took power in late June. “Egypt is an influential international leader, and we are working very closely together on key foreign policy issues such as the appalling situation in Syria. I welcome President Morsi's strong statement in Tehran on Syria, where he condemned the regime's actions. I also welcome Egypt and the Arab League's work with the Syrian political opposition. “As a sign of the importance we attach to cooperating on international affairs, the UK will, through Wilton Park, a global forum for strategic discussion based in the UK, form a partnership with the Egyptian MFA. The partnership will convene conferences in Egypt on foreign policy issues. The outcome will be a richer and more informed debate on matters of regional and global concern, and will provide a strong Middle Eastern voice on foreign affairs,” he added.
