Presidential office announces Sisi’s Berlin schedule

CAIRO – 10 June 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will head to Germany Sunday to attend Monday’s summit in Berlin on cooperation between the G-20 and African countries. The summit is hosted by Berlin under the theme “Investing in a common Future.”

Sisi's participation in the Berlin summit comes within the framework of Egypt’s efforts to enhance the level of cooperation between the African countries and the G-20 in various developmental fields, presidential spokesman Alaa Yousef said in a Saturday statement.

The German presidency is expected to launch a cooperation initiative with Africa aiming at establishing partnerships with international institutions to attract investments in Africa. These international investments are expected to be sustainable and to contribute to economic and social development and job creation and reduce the challenges in Africa, the statement added.

Invitees to the summit include a limited number of African countries as well as Italy, the chair of the G7 industrial countries.

During his visit, Sisi is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a number of German ministers, including Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, as well as the German Parliament’s majority leader, Volker Kauder, to discuss possible ways to develop relations between the two countries at various levels.

Sisi will also meet several German economic officials, including the ministers of economy and economic cooperation and a group of heads of leading German companies, Yusef added in his statement. The Egyptian president will also attend the opening session of the German-Arab Economic Forum to sign the agreed minutes of the bilateral joint economic committee.

Furthermore, Sisi is expected to participate in a business Ramadan iftar hosted by the German Chancellor.

The African countries’ conference comes ahead of the G20 Summit, scheduled to take place on July 7 in Hamburg, Germany.