Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly met on Sunday with Germany's new Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali-Radovan, to discuss deepening their bilateral partnership, with a focus on sustainable development and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. During the meeting in New Alamein City, the German minister affirmed her country's support for Egypt's efforts regarding the situation in Gaza, backing the two-state solution and rejecting the displacement of Palestinians. Madbouly stated that the long-standing partnership between the two nations is built on shared interests and a commitment to advancing sustainable development. "The long-term partnership between Egypt and Germany is based on common interests and mutual commitments to advance sustainable development efforts," Madbouly said, noting that German development cooperation with Egypt focuses on expanding renewable energy, enhancing energy efficiency, developing technical education, improving water resource management, and strengthening the private sector. The meeting was also attended by Egypt's Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Rania Al-Mashat, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdelatty. The German minister, on her first visit to Egypt, expressed her confidence that the visit would yield positive results for the mutual interests of both countries. "Reem Alabali-Radovan affirmed the strength and diversity of the relations that bind Egypt and Germany in various fields, especially economic," a government statement said. On the regional situation, the minister stated that her visit "confirms Germany's support for the Egyptian role regarding the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, renewing her country's support for the two-state solution and its rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their land." Madbouly noted that Egypt and Germany had recently taken practical steps to expand their cooperation, signing economic and development agreements alongside debt-swap programmes and other joint initiatives. He expressed Egypt's keenness to broaden cooperation and its hope for Germany's support for Egyptian-European relations within the framework of theEuropean Union. During the meeting, Planning Minister Rania Al-Mashat said the bilateral economic cooperation portfolio between Egypt and Germany amounted to about 1.6 billion euros. She stated these funds aim to implement development projects in priority sectors such as energy, climate, water supply, sanitation, irrigation, migration, solid waste management, and enhancing private sector competitiveness. Al-Mashat also expressed her aspiration to diversify cooperation frameworks and attract more German investment, technical support, and expertise to support the resilience of the Egyptian economy and its economic reform programme. Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty expressed his hope to elevate bilateral relations to the level of a strategic partnership and stressed the importance of attracting more German investment to Egypt, particularly in light of the improving investment climate. Abdelatty also addressed the economic burdens on Egypt from hosting more than 10 million migrants and refugees, expressing his hope for support to alleviate these pressures and enhance cooperation on migration issues. He outlined Egypt's efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and said he looked forward to Germany's high-level participation in a post-ceasefire recovery and reconstruction conference for the strip.
