Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukry, met on Monday with the Canadian Senate Speaker, George Furey, and discussed bilateral relations and Egyptian reforms. During the meeting, Shoukry discussed with the Canadian official ways of boosting bilateral relations and asserted its importance on all levels for both countries, especially in light of Canada's international influence in advancing peace and stability efforts in the region. He also reviewed economic, social, and security situation developments in Egypt, and discussed ways of economic and investment cooperation. The two officials also addressed giant projects implemented by Egypt and promising investment opportunities available for Canadian companies, as well as regional issues of common interest, including the situation in Libya Shoukry further reviewed the principles which govern Egypt's foreign policy toward regional crises, which aim to achieve security and stability and meet the aspirations of the peoples in the region. Moreover, also on Monday, Furey met with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, who expressed the readiness of the world's leading Sunni Islamic institution to boost cooperation and ties with Canada in order to serve as an example of coexistence and social peace on a global scale. El-Tayeb noted that millions of students attend the Islamic institution, which has been playing a pioneering role for more than 1,000 years, adding that Al-Azhar has succeeded in establishing genuine communication between the east and west through dialogue with major religious institutions worldwide. As for Furey, he said that Al-Azhar's moderate dialogue contributes toward confronting terrorism and extremism, expressing his appreciation for its successes in establishing communication with various religions. Since his arrival to Cairo, Furey also met with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal, where they focused on boosting cooperation and mutual partnerships.
