Strengthening of EU-Egypt strategic partnership and implementation of Mattei Plan: President Meloni in Cairo

The President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, visited Cairo today, together with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the Federal Chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer, to strengthen the EU-Egypt strategic partnership.

Today’s bilateral talks focused on implementation of the Mattei Plan in Egypt, with particular regard to cooperation in the sector of agricultural production and food security.
During their meeting, President of the Council of Ministers Meloni and President al-Sisi agreed to set up a partnership between Italy and Egypt regarding major agricultural and land reclamation projects, with the aim of establishing a ‘model farm’ and sharing Italy’s most innovative technologies in this sector in order to contribute to the nation’s food security.

A number of bilateral agreements regarding implementation of the Mattei Plan for Africa were adopted in the margins of today’s bilateral meetings and meetings with EU leaders. Offices representing Italy’s economic system were also officially opened in Cairo this morning (Economic Office at the Italian Embassy in Cairo, ITA/ICE [Italian Trade and Investment Agency], Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, SACE [Italian Export Credit Agency] and SIMEST). The agreements adopted cover several sectors, details of which are provided below.

• Two cooperation agreements were signed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Edmondo Cirielli:
  • a development cooperation agreement regarding the bilateral programme ‘technical support for leather, marble and furniture industrial districts’ in order to enhance Egypt’s industrial system, support the country’s economic development and improve the production capacity of leather, marble and furniture industrial districts
  • a development cooperation agreement to promote the rights of people with disabilities and their inclusion in society
• A financial agreement was signed by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and the Governor of the Egyptian Central Bank for a soft loan of EUR 45 million for Egyptian small and medium-sized enterprises, as was a cooperation agreement between CDP and Afreximbank, worth 100 million, for sustainable development projects in the field of food security involving African SMEs;
• Two Memoranda of Understanding were signed by SACE, with Orascom Construction and the Bank of Alexandria respectively, to provide financial support to Italian suppliers for infrastructure development projects in Egypt, and to financially support trade, with a special focus on helping SMEs in both countries;
• An agreement was reached between SIMEST and Egypt’s National Service Project Organisation to complete an investment in the mining industry, regarding silica sands;
• Two agreements were signed between the company Mer Mec and the President of Egypt’s railway authority, one regarding the supply of a measuring train to monitor the regular lines of the Egyptian railway network, worth approximately EUR 7 million, and one regarding a signalling project worth approximately EUR 100 million;
• An agreement was signed by Arsenale S.p.A with the President of Egypt’s railway authority for a tourist train project under the supervision of the Egyptian Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Tourism;
• A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Director of the ‘Scuola Italiana di Ospitalità’ [‘Italian Hospitality School’] and the President of the Egyptian partner Pickalbatros Group for the creation of a hospitality and tourism vocational training programme. This MOU also sets the goal of opening a hotel and tourism management training centre in Hurghada, on the Red Sea. This agreement forms part of the Italian Government’s strategy to mitigate irregular migration and facilitate legal migration with the aim of addressing the labour shortage in Italy.

Shortly before, the Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the strengthening of bilateral cooperation on technical and vocational training, during a bilateral meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Minister Reda Hegazy. With regard to the same sector, the Vice President of Confindustria, Giovanni Brugnoli, and the President of the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), Mohamed Zaki Elsewedy, also signed a vocational training cooperation agreement between their two industry associations.

An agreement was also reached to strengthen Italy’s contribution to responding to the health emergency affecting the civilian population in Gaza.

On the occasion of today’s visit, ITA/ICE (the Italian Trade and Investment Agency) and the Italian Embassy also organised an event to promote the agreement between Italy and Egypt to establish the ‘RORO’ maritime interconnection line between the ports of Damietta and Trieste. The event brought together the main Italian and Egyptian players that are working on implementing the maritime connection line after the intergovernmental agreement launching the project was signed in January.