Egypt's FM heads to Spain to meet counterpart, King

CAIRO – 17 April 2022: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry headed Sunday to the Spanish capital upon an invitation of his counterpart Jose Manuel Albares, as they are scheduled to hold talks on all aspects of bilateral ties.

Meetings with other senior officials are also planned to take place, including one with the minister of ecological transition and the demographic challenge. That is in light of the growth in Egyptian-Spanish relations, and to follow up on the outcomes of the visit of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to Cairo in December.

Talks will tackle preparations for COP 27 to be hosted by Egypt in Sharm El Sheikh next November, and boosting Spanish investments in Egypt as well as economic cooperation.  

The press statement indicated that the minister will be received by King Felipe VI of Spain.  

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received in December Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at Al Itihadiyah Presidential Palace discussing boosting bilateral economic cooperation.

President Sisi and the Spanish prime minister agreed to form a joint ministerial committee that would convene periodically to achieve that goal. That is in addition to the Egyptian-Spanish Business Council, which is holding meetings on the sidelines of Sanchez's visit.

Further, both parties lauded the growth of bilateral relations since President Sisi's visit to Spain in 2015, as indicated by the presidency's press statement. Yet, Egypt aims for expanding cooperation in the sectors of infrastructure, energy, water treatment, tourism, transportation, and healthcare, particularly in the fields of plasma donation and vaccine production. It is noted that Spain had donated four million doses of anti-COVID-19 vaccine to Egypt earlier.  

The talks equally covered repercussions of illegal migration affirming the necessity of dealing with the issue through a comprehensive approach that tackles the political, economic, and social circumstances that incurred its rise over the past period.

President Sisi highlighted that no single case of illegal migration from Egyptian shores had been recorded since 2016 underlining that the country hosts millions of migrants. In previous statements, the president clarified that Egypt has around six million migrants, including half a million Syrians while the rest are from fellow African states.