Egypt’s ambassador in Brussels d. Badr Abdel-Aty discusses with the Belgian government recovery of antiquities, judicial cooperation, women’s empowerment and trade
Brussels – Abdalah Mustafa
Dr. Badr Abdel-Aty, Ambassador of Egypt in Brussels, met with Vincent van Quinborn, Belgian Minister of Justice, Sarah Schelz, Belgian Minister of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity, and Pascal Smit, Minister of State for the Brussels Region for Urban Planning, International and European Relations and Foreign Trade.
In his meeting with the Belgian Minister of Justice, Abdel-Aty addressed the file of recovering smuggled Egyptian antiquities. Abdel-Aty stressed the importance of this file for Egypt, stressing the need for coordination at the bilateral level to confront illegal trafficking networks in antiquities and cultural property. During the meeting, Abdel-Aty was keen to hand the Belgian minister a list of outstanding issues with Belgium regarding the recovery of Egyptian antiquities that were illegally exited from Egypt, as the Belgian minister affirmed their readiness to cooperate with Egypt in this regard. The meeting also dealt with strengthening judicial and legal cooperation between the two countries, including studying the signing of bilateral agreements in these priority areas for the two countries.
On the other hand, Abdel-Aty discussed with the Belgian Minister of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity the national experience in the field of women’s empowerment, including increasing women’s representation in parliament, in the current government and in judicial positions. Abdel-Aty indicated that the state is adopting A comprehensive perspective for women’s empowerment, whether politically, socially, economically or culturally, and a number of important initiatives were launched to achieve this goal, foremost of which is the initiative for a decent life and the initiative for solidarity and dignity. The Belgian Minister of State expressed her aspiration to cooperate with Egypt to exchange best practices in the areas of women’s empowerment.
Abdel-Aty also discussed with the Minister of State for the Brussels Region for Urban Planning, International and European Relations and Foreign Trade, in the presence of Minister Plenipotentiary Rasha Galal, Head of the Commercial Office, the distinguished relations between Egypt and Belgium in the fields of trade and economy, noting the importance of mutual visits to enhance cooperation in this regard. Including the visit of the trade delegation from the three regions (Brussels / Flanders / Wallania) to Egypt during the period from October 16 to 21, and the visit of the delegation of the Egyptian-Belgian Businessmen Association to Belgium during the period from October 23 to 28 Strengthening economic and trade relations between the two sides.
