During her two-day working visit to Cairo, the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry, Ms Natasha Pileidou, had a full agenda, including holding separate meetings with her Egyptian counterparts, the Ministers of Electricity, Petroleum and Trade. In addition, Ms. Pileidou led a business delegation from Cyprus, which participated today, Monday 28 March 2022, in a business forum co-organized by the YEEB and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Cyprus-Egypt Business Association.
Specifically, yesterday, Sunday, the Minister of Energy met privately with the Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Dr Mohamed Shaker El - Markabi, to discuss a number of issues such as the joint promotion of energy storage, hydrogen production and Renewable Sources projects, with emphasis on floating photovoltaic parks. In addition, the Ministers reviewed the progress of the Cyprus-Egypt-Greece electricity interconnection project and participated in the opening of the first meeting of the Technical Committee for the Cyprus-Egypt part of the interconnection. The establishment of the Technical Committee is foreseen by the Memorandum of Understanding on the electricity interconnection between Cyprus and Egypt, signed by the two Ministers in Nicosia on 16 October 2021.
On Sunday evening, Ms. Pileidou presented to the Ambassadors of the member countries and observers of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, the priorities of the Cyprus Presidency of the Organization for 2022 and the events and meetings that will take place in the coming period.
On Sunday evening, Ms. Pileidou presented to the Ambassadors of the member countries and observers of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, the priorities of the Cyprus Presidency of the Organization for 2022 and the events and meetings that will take place in the coming period.
Today, before the start of the business forum, the Minister of Energy had the opportunity to discuss with the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek El Molla the international developments in the energy sector due to the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and the necessity of creating the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Corridor for energy security and the diversification of Europe's gas sources and routes. In this context, the two Ministers also discussed the progress of the work of the technical teams for the gas pipeline that will transport gas from the Aphrodite field to Egypt, as well as the initiatives to be taken by the international organisation East Mediterranean Gas Forum, which Cyprus will chair in 2022, for the exploitation of the region's deposits.
Subsequently, Ms. Pileidou participated in the Cyprus-Egypt Business Forum, where as a keynote speaker she presented to the participants the competitive advantages of our country as an international business centre and the opportunities for cooperation in specific sectors, such as green transition, bilateral trade, information and communication technologies, higher education and medical services. He also referred to the high quality professional services offered in Cyprus and informed about the operation of the "Company Facilitation Unit" at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As Mrs. Pileidou explained, the Unit can assist Egyptian entrepreneurs to operate in the EU, aiming at the fast and efficient processing of requests received from foreign companies to establish and operate a company in Cyprus.
The forum was attended by a large number of Cypriot companies from various sectors of the economy, holding meetings with more than 70 Egyptian companies. In addition, a representative of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism had a series of contacts with Egyptian operators to explore the level of interest in relation to tourism and, in particular, the cruise sector.
The official visit of the Minister of Energy to Egypt concluded with a meeting at noon with the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, Mrs. Nevin Gamea. Mrs. Pileidou and Mrs. Gamea explored ways of developing partnerships between businessmen from Cyprus and Egypt, as well as the prospects of increasing trade flows between the two countries in goods and services. Ms. Pileidou made particular reference to Cyprus' efforts to promote both the export of pharmaceutical preparations and aquaculture products and Cypriot services that have export potential, such as higher education and medical and professional services.
The Energy Minister returns to Cyprus tonight.
(GA)
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