Staff report: CAIRO, June 27, 2018 - President Abdel Fattah El Sisi Wednesday asserted Egypt's keenness on the continuation of enhancing mechanisms for co-operation with Cyprus in all fields in a way that realised the common interests for both countries and peoples especially in the field of energy and electricity connectivity, Presidency Spokesman Bassam Radi said. The president's statement came during his meeting Wednesday with the Chairman of the Strategic Council of EuroAfrica Interconnector, Dr Ioannis Kasoulides, who is a former Cypriot foreign minister. Euro Africa Interconnector is the developer of the project that connects Egypt's electricity grid with Europe via Cyprus. The Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Dr Mohamed Shaker, Cypriot Ambassador to Cairo Charis Moritsis, and EuroAfrica Interconnector's CEO Dr Ioannis Kasoulidis attended the meeting. At the start of the meeting, President Sisi welcomed the former Cypriot foreign minister and lauded the distinguished Egyptian-Cypriot relations. President Sisi also highlighted that Egypt is now in acquisition of increasing electricity-generating capacities as a result of the implementation of several giant projects in accordance with the latest world standards. These projects include in the foremost the new power stations constructed by Germany's Siemens which are expected to boost the capacity of the national power grid by additional 14,000 megawatts, in addition to new and renewable energy stations, Spokesman Radi said. That, the president went on, would qualify Egypt for carrying out electricity interconnectivity projects to make it a bridge for electrical power networking between Africa and Europe via Cyprus and Greece, Spokesman Radi said. For his part, former Cypriot foreign minister Kasoulides expressed his country's appreciation of its distinguished, unprecedented co-operation relations in the current period. Such relations, he added, have become a model for fruitful co-operation between Mediterranean countries. Mr Kasoulides then outlined the plan by EuroAfrica Interconnector to carry out an electricity interconnectivity project between Egypt, Cyprus and Greece. Dr Kasoulides also pointed out that this giant project is important because it consolidates co-operation between the three countries in the field of electric power networking and enhances Egypt's role as a regional energy hub in the East Mediterranean region. This, he said, comes in the light of Egypt's huge potentials in this field and the noticeable boom it has achieved in the field of electricity generating capacities. Such a boom, he added, has made it possible for Egypt not only to meet the demand for local consumption but also to export to countries abroad, especially in Europe.
