Egypt's signing with FIFA was to support national team, promote country: Mashat

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Thu, 21 Jun 2018 - 05:05 GMT

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Thu, 21 Jun 2018 - 05:05 GMT

Egypt's Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat - Photo courtesy of CNN interview

Egypt's Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat - Photo courtesy of CNN interview

CAIRO - 21 June 2018: Egypt's government aimed to support the national team and promote the country by signing with the Federation International of Football Association (FIFA) in June to officially become the first African regional sponsor for the 2018 World Cup.

Egypt's Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat said in an interview with CNN that sponsoring the World Cup came for two reasons, "first, we wanted to support the nation's great achievement to reach the tournament after 28 years of absence. Second, we wanted to promote Egypt to the massive audience of the World Cup, since its one of the most viewed tournaments in the world."

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PRESS PHOTO: "Experience Egypt", "Invest in Egypt" showing up on the stadium's LED banners



The minister also said that the government is aiming to make tourists "live the Egyptian experience" when they arrive in the country, not just visit some of the tourist sites. "This is what we were tying to do in Russia; we have a fan zone dedicated to Egypt. We want people to experience our music and food and get a taste of what the country has to offer," Mashat added.

"Cheer like an Egyptian" competition that was announced by the ministry on June 14 was named after the Bangles' song "Walk Like an Egyptian" that was released in 1986, according to Mashat. She announced that this competition will allow "60 lucky people" to travel to Egypt only through uploading videos and pictures on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hastag (Cheer like an Egyptian), and the most liked post will win the trip.

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Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat, Ahmed Youssef, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Authority for Tourism Development attend a ceremony organized to reveal the ministry's plan to promote for tourism in Egypt on the sidelines of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia - Egypt Today/Mohamed Al-Hossary



Regarding the national team games and Mo Salah's performance, Mashat affirmed that the national team did their best during the past matches in the 2018 World cup, especially in the clash against Uruguay. She added that "they represented the nation in a good way".

Mashat said that she was saddened like all Egyptians that the national team couldn't progress any further; however, she asserted that the national team still enjoys the whole country's support.

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Lighting up the pyramids in celebration of announcing Egypt regional supporter of FIFA 2018 World Cup – Egypt.travel/worldcup



Mo Salah's injury was described by Mashat as "quite tough" not just for him but for all Egyptians. "There is always a chance to meet him and tell him that we are still behind him and looking forward to the next match," Mashat concluded.

On June 13, Egypt Experience and Invest campaign officially became the regional supporter of the FIFA World Cup Russia to promote the country as a global tourism and investment destination, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Tourism.

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According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Tourism on Wednesday, the company, which is affiliated with the Egyptian government, signed a contract with the FIFA to become an official regional supporter of the world cup - press photo



The statement added that the campaign, which is affiliated with the Egyptian government, signed a contract with the Federation International of Football Association (FIFA) to become an official regional supporter of the World Cup to promote the country as a global investment destination, and to attract more tourists from around the world to visit the country. This contract is the first to be signed in Africa among other sponsorship contracts that are expected to be signed during the coming period.

“Being an official regional supporter of the 2018 FIFA World Cup gives us an outreach in Africa to highlight and communicate the premium positioning and enormous investment diversity and potential Egypt has to offer,” Sahar Nasr, Egypt’s minister of investment and international cooperation said commenting on the signing.

She added that, in addition to having increased visibility through the world’s most watched sporting event, Egypt Experience and Invest will engage globally through social media outlets and directly with football fans to showcase the wide spectrum of investment opportunities in the country.

Mashat earlier headed to Saint Petersburg to attend the highly-anticipated game between Egypt and Russia on Tuesday, June 19, according to a statement released by the ministry. She also attended Egyptian composer Omar Khairat's concert before returning to Egypt.

“I’ve been a huge admirer of Omar Khairat’s works for a long time and I was very privileged to meet this talented musician last week in Giza before he headed to Russia," Mashat said in her statement.

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Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat attends a ceremony organized to reveal the ministry's plan to promote for tourism in Egypt on the sidelines of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia - Egypt Today/Mohamed Al-Hossary



Mashat stressed that “Egypt is sponsoring the World Cup regionally to support the nation’s great achievement in reaching the finals after a 28- year absence and to promote Egypt to a massive global audience,” adding that “those heroes representing the whole nation today are our country’s ambassadors as they draw a sophisticated image of what the Egyptian people are capable of.”

The statement added that, for the purpose of promoting the country, the Ministry of Tourism worked on a strategy that started with the launch of the hashtag #experienceegypt that invaded all pitches hosting the matches of the 64 participating teams in the World Cup. It has also launched a range of innovative promotional social media campaigns to put a smile on people’s faces and get more people from all over the globe to know more about the Egyptian culture.


All about Egypt's promotional 2018 World Cup campaign

CAIRO - 16 June 2018: As Egypt was announced Official Regional Supporter of the 2018 FIFA World Cup TM, ministries of investment and tourism already started expressing efforts to draw attention to Egypt as a tourist destination and a fertile soil for investment.






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