제목: Speech by President von der Leyen with Egyptian President El-Sisi at the EU-Egypt Investment Conference
1 | President El-Sisi | 엘시시 대통령 | 이집트 대통령 |
2 | Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership | 포괄적 전략동맹 | |
3 | Cairo | 카이로 | 이집트 수도 |
4 | the Gulf | 걸프만 | |
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It has been only 100 days since we opened a new era of friendship between Egypt and the European Union. And today, we are already reaping the fruits. President El-Sisi, thank you so much for your splendid hospitality. Last March, you welcomed me and five other European Leaders, here in this beautiful timeless city, and the two of us signed a new Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership. Of course, this new agreement builds on profound ties between our people, and decades of cooperation between Egypt and the European Union. Europe is already Egypt's largest trade partner and investor, accounting for 40% of your foreign direct investments. And with our new agreement, we have decided to reach a new level of strategic engagement between us. You are a gateway to Europe, between Africa and the Middle East, and between the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific. So your stability and prosperity are essential for an entire region.
Today, we come here to Cairo, accompanied by European companies, investors and financial institutions. Indeed, we have over 1,000 company representatives in the room eager to hear from us on new business opportunities But of course, we are also eager to hear from you what further actions you need from us to facilitate investments.
As the European Union, we are making good on the commitments we made just three months ago. Let me mention three of them: First, more financial assistance. Second, more investments in strategic sectors. And third, more skills for Egyptian workers.
On my first point. In March, we announced a major financial and investment package worth EUR 7.4 billion. And today, we sign the first EUR 1 billion in macro-financial assistance. This package will accompany and incentivise Egypt's reform agenda that the private sector needs. And these reforms will foster a stronger business environment, attract more investment and create more good jobs in Egypt.
Second, with our Strategic Partnership, we have committed to step up our strategic investments in Egypt. Now we aim to mobilise new European investments worth EUR 1.8 billion. This will go to the strategic sectors we have identified together last March. Let me just give one example. Egypt has the ambitious goal of becoming a clean energy hub. And this is in Europe's interest too. Such a clean energy hub would put Egypt at the centre of the Mediterranean crossroads, with new corridors to transport clean electricity and hydrogen, but also creating new clean-tech value chains that span across our region, from the Gulf to Europe. Today, we rely on batteries, solar panels and wind turbines that are mostly produced far away. What if we joined forces to produce them in our common region? We are now investing in this vision, like never before.
To achieve this, we also have to strengthen the skills that Egyptians need to thrive in the economy of tomorrow. This is my third and last example. Today, we are signing a new project, worth EUR 25 million, to provide clean-tech and digital training to young Egyptians. So that companies find skilled personnel, and Egyptians can find good jobs and make their living.