At the end of his visit to Madrid, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry met on Tuesday with representatives of the Spanish side of the joint Egyptian-Spanish Business Council of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. During the meeting, Shoukry presented the reforms and economic achievements of the Egyptian government, which have created an attractive climate for foreign investments in Egypt. The meeting also focused on the importance of developing economic relations between Egypt and Spain, reflecting the potential of the two countries and calling on Spanish companies to inject more investment into Egypt. Furthermore, Shoukry stressed the need to strengthen the role of Spanish companies in supporting the green transition in Egypt, especially in light of Egypt's hosting and chairing of the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) in Sharm El-Sheikh this November. Late on Monday, the FM held talks with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares in the framework of his visit to the Spanish capital of Madrid to advance bilateral relations between Egypt and Spain. Ahmed Hafez — Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — said that the talks included a comprehensive discussion of all bilateral cooperation between Egypt and Spain, where the two ministers welcomed the growing pace of cooperation and the importance of building on the results of visits and mutual contacts at all levels to achieve the interests of the two countries. Shoukry also stressed his aspiration to strengthen the partnership with Spain and improve economic relations through several axes, most notably increasing trade exchange — especially through increasing Egyptian exports — and increasing Spanish direct investments to take advantage of promising opportunities in many sectors, including infrastructure, transportation, water, renewable energy, and electric mobility in light of Egypt's huge development projects. Additionally, the two sides discussed cooperation within the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean and Spain's support for strengthening the partnership between Egypt and the EU), especially in light of the current momentum of that partnership. Furthermore, the talks included an exchange of views on international and regional issues of common concern, including the crisis in Ukraine and its repercussions and the current deterioration of the situation in the Palestinian Territories. Shoukry also reviewed the efforts made by Egypt to bring the views of the various Libyan parties closer, stressing Egypt's support for the Libyan-Libyan solution. He then presented the constants of the Egyptian position on the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The two top diplomats also signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of Diplomatic Studies and the exchange of experiences between the Institute of Diplomatic Studies at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diplomatic School in the Kingdom of Spain in order to enhance cooperation in exchange and training programmes.
