By the Gazette Editorial Board THE meetings that President Sisi held with world leaders during his stay in New York to take part in the work of the high-level events of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly session draw a true picture of the country's energetic foreign policy and how it is being pursued along the two parallel directions of contributing to peace-making at regional and international levels and achieving larger sustainable development on the home front. And as such, Egypt's foreign policy is re-asserting itself as a principal and integral component of the higher Vision 2030, the national instrument that defines the shape and content of national action to build the aspired life on the land of Egypt in the foreseeable future. Directly pointing to this attitude are the two meetings that the Egyptian leader held on his first day in New York with the president of the World Bank and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, the two key international institutions that are actively partnering with Egypt in the drive now underway to simultaneously effectuate economic reform and push forward comprehensive development with marked emphasis on the incorporation of due social protection umbrellas and measures to ease the burden of reform on limited-income and most needy segments. The willingness and keenness of these two global institutions on sustaining action with Egypt in carrying on with the developmental process imply profound acknowledgement of the worthiness and effectiveness of both the planning and implementation of the overall state drive for building a modern society. Another equally-significant pointer to the large and manifest cohesiveness of the country's foreign policy and its domestic development goals was President Sisi's meeting with the New York-based Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU). After hearing the Egyptian leader's presentation of the multiple-direction measures to revive the national economy especially through a package of economic, legislative and administrative reforms as well as through attracting fresh and/or additional investments, BCIU chief Peter Tichansky lauded Egypt's successful experience with economic reform and stressed the Council's desire to continue supporting economic co-operation between Egypt and the United States in different areas. Fostering such an attitude for greater co-operation in economic and investment activities is indeed an asset for the country's developmental efforts. An insightful reading of the conclusions of such meetings that President Sisi holds with key world economic institutions reveals that high-level political communication facilitates and encourages the growth of economic co-operation in the interest of sustainable development at home. A good case in point is President Sisi's latest meeting in New York with US President Donald Trump. In addition to stressing the strategic partnership between the two countries, the two leaders, according to Presidency spokesman Bassam Radi's roundup of the meeting, discussed ways of increasing US investments in the Egyptian market and doubling of the volume of trade in the light of the progress achieved by Egypt in implementing its economic reform programme and creating an investment-friendly climate. Also evidencing the cohesiveness of the country's international relations and its momentous developmental drive was President Sisi's meeting in New York with South Korean President Moon. Hailing Egypt as a pillar of stability and peace in the Middle East and praising the economic growth and comprehensive development that its now witnessing, the South Korean president stressed that his country is looking forward to increasing the volume of its investments in Egypt. In a broader perspective, the above-mentioned cases unveil how national development, admittedly the one area of domestic action that articulates a country's vision for life at present as well as for the foreseeable future, constitutes a solid brickwork for a foreign policy that can effectively contribute to the realisation of such a vision especially through active diplomacy and highest-level political contacts.
