Egypt's Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad and the Chinese ambassador in Cairo Liao Liqiang witnessed Monday the signing ceremony of the certificate of receipt of energy-saving goods to confront climate change, which will be received as a grant from the Chinese government to Egypt. This came within the framework of activating the memorandum of understanding signed in 2016 between the two sides regarding the provision of 20 million yuan of goods to the Egyptian Ministry of Environment in order to enhance its local capabilities in combating climate change. On 16 January 2017, the supplementary agreement was signed. Fouad praised the efforts of the Ministry of Environment of China to support cooperation between the two countries in the field of environmental work, especially climate issues, stressing the depth of relations between the two countries and Egypt's keenness to continue cooperation, especially the climate file. She also praised China's role as an active international partner to reach realistic solutions for climate change issues to implement the principles of the Paris climate agreement and other agreements related to climate action, as well as the transition to a green economy, The Minister of Environment stated that the project is one of the success stories of mutual cooperation between the two countries in supporting environmentally friendly development, as the grant provided by the Chinese Ministry of Environment to the Egyptian Ministry of Environment to address the effects of climate change includes a group of goods that enhance energy efficiency in Egypt, as one of the basic technological solutions that guarantee using sustainable and renewable energy resources, which contributes to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy efficiency, thus preserving our natural resources. For his part, the Chinese ambassador stressed the depth of the strategic relations between the two countries. He also welcomed participation in the first conference on environmental and climate investment in Egypt and invited Chinese companies to participate in it in order to seize promising investment opportunities in the field of environment and climate in Egypt and to achieve new partnerships between the two sides. Ali Abu Sinna, the Chairperson of the Environmental Affairs Agency, said that the goods provided by China will enhance Egypt's ability to fulfil its obligations at the national level, and to provide the necessary technical support and training to benefit from these goods, indicating his aspiration for more cooperation through the participation of the Chinese government and the private sector in the first conference for environmental and climate investment in July in Egypt.
