Egypt's Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad met on Tuesday with Michele Quaroni, the Ambassador of Italy in Cairo, to discuss ways of future cooperation to enhance partnership in environmental and climate investment. During the meeting, the minister praised the extended cooperation over the past years with the Italian side in a number of environmental fields, including nature protection and community integration, and waste management. The Italian ambassador welcomed opportunities for joint cooperation in environmental investment, especially with Italy's interest in circular economy applications, and Italian expertise and technology in this field, praising the inspiring Egyptian models in the field of sustainability and the circular economy, especially in the fashion textile industry. Both officials discussed ways of cooperation in implementing the demolition and construction strategy by creating partnerships between the Egyptian and Italian private sectors to localize technology in this field, as well as cooperation through the strategy of recycling edible oils to provide the raw material for the production of biodiesel. They also addressed opportunities for cooperation to invest in recycling agricultural waste, through the implementation of the national strategy for agricultural waste management, which refers to 42 million tonnes of agricultural waste produced by Egypt every year as a promising investment opportunity. Regarding this point, the Italian ambassador expressed his country's interest in managing agricultural waste as a source of biofuel, through many specialized companies, and also in the field of recycling food waste. The minister also reviewed opportunities for cooperation in solid waste management, after the relentless efforts made by Egypt over the past 5 years to prepare the environment for implementing a new waste management system. Moreover, the two sides also discussed the possibility of cooperation in the field of packaging waste recycling. In the field of nature protection, the Minister of the Environment stressed the role of the Italian side as a partner in Egypt's path towards ecotourism, and the successful partnership experience in integrating local communities in the process of preserving natural reserves in Siwa, Wadi El-Gemal and Fayoum, which resulted in the support of 9 tribes in these reserves to preserve and present their heritage and traditions. visitors, making them protectors of nature. Fouad called on the Italian side to participate in the activities of the International Forum for Environmental and Climate Investment in July and welcomed the participation of the Italian private sector to identify promising investment opportunities in the field of environment and climate, and to network Egyptian-Italian partnerships in this field.
