Ahmed Moustafa writes
In the beginning, I wish you a blessed and holy Ramadan – May Allah bring it back to the world with prosperity and blessings, and may Allah fulfill our prayer for the liberation of the Palestinian lands from the usurper, racist Zionist entity, and for the end of the Russian special operation in (Ukraine) in the event that Washington becomes certain and realizes the loss of NATO on the battlefield, and with the testimony of many American generals themselves.
Enough of what the great American journalist (Seymour Hersh) concluded regarding the terrorist act that took place in the two lines of the Russian Nord Stream, and how could European regimes allow this subversive terrorism, including the presidents of (Germany, Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland) and for whose benefit? Is it for the benefit of the Anglo-Saxon oil companies at the expense of the European peoples, so that they remain in their positions?!
Or is it the multinational corporations themselves that support their election campaigns? Here, the idea of failed democracy, which they chant about, and human rights. Because the element of efficiency and equality is negated in this case – and because we did not find in these European regimes anyone standing in front of Washington or these companies, except perhaps Hungary and Serbia.
The closest example was, if you remember (the Munich Security Conference) and how (Ursula von der Leyen – the current president of the European Commission) caused the misfortune of the European people, when she was a corrupt defense minister in Germany, with the entry of the American company McKinsey for Public Relations, which now controls the conference and even its agenda and attendance. As if Germany is an invited country and not the host country, according to a report by Politico last February, which exposed the scenes of this conference.
Likewise, when we see with our own eyes dogs trained by the French police gnawing at the bodies of demonstrators in France against the legislation of the new retirement age – all of this strikes the credibility of these countries to death.
Also, with the emergence of China as a strong mediator who resolves the conflict and does not mediate it through two strong initiatives (the peace initiative between Russia and Ukraine – and of course the success of the normalization efforts between Iran and Saudi Arabia) and the fasting of Muslims on the first of Ramadan, with its two major factions, Sunni and Shiite, on the same day, and this is the greatest success left by this agreement – O Allah, we pray to you to keep the unity of Muslims and peace between people.
Celebration of the National Day of the State of Pakistan in Egypt:
I thank the Military Adviser at the Embassy of Pakistan, Col. Mr. Naveed Ahmed, for inviting me to attend this ceremony that was held last Sunday, corresponding to March 19, 2023, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Cairo, for the mutual trust between us, and also our sharing in many visions since we met at the National Day ceremony of the State of Indonesia last September.
Where there is a lot of similarity between Egypt on the one hand and Pakistan on the other hand, both of them are among the largest countries in the Islamic world and they have many challenges, whether internal or external, and this is what the Pakistani Ambassador, Mr. Sajid Bilal, indicated in his speech last Sunday. He mentioned building brotherly diplomatic relations with Egypt since 1946.
As for the important points mentioned in this meeting, the volume of intra-trade between Egypt and Pakistan reached about 366 million dollars in favor of the Egyptian side, the volume of Pakistani investments inside Egypt reached 400 million dollars, and the Pakistani economy ranks 26th in the world and 46th in terms of purchasing power.
How can trade exchange between Pakistan and Egypt be advanced?!
One of the most important questions that we always ask ourselves in our relations with friendly and close countries such as Pakistan is: Why hasn’t the volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached at least $5 billion yet?
As I mentioned above, there is a US dollar crisis in the two countries, and therefore why do the countries not resort to an alternative currency that is acceptable to both parties, such as (the Chinese yuan, the euro, gold), or even to barter systems, so that some Egyptian commodities are replaced by Pakistani ones that are required in the Egyptian market, including Cotton textiles and clothes in which Pakistan excels, as well as halal meat and rice that Pakistan exports, and we have a deficit and an outrageous price in them inside Egypt.
Why is there no Pakistani tourism in Egypt in a decent manner, and likewise, because the language is not an obstacle, English can be used to promote Egyptian tourism inside Pakistan in a country with a population of more than 220 million people, where the percentage of young people is close to 55% who have aspirations?
Where are the startups from the Group of Eight (D8), especially in Pakistan, which is advanced to Egypt in this field? A number of startups in Egypt can enter into a partnership with the (Invest to Innovate – i2i) project, which was founded by (Kalsom Lakhani and Mosbah Naqvi). “With the world’s fifth largest [nuclear power], young population, growing consumer class, and growing smartphone penetration, Pakistan offers tremendous investment opportunities,” says Lakhani.
“The problem is twofold in Egypt and Pakistan: regulations make it cumbersome to set up a fund inside Pakistan and Egypt, and regulations make it difficult to move funds out of the country – as much liquidity as there is in the Pakistani and Egyptian market, we and many other VC funds we have had to established abroad, taking advantage of this liquidity.”
This is according to an article titled “Ready to Invest in Pakistan” by researchers Tresca Hamid and Aisha Jaffer in September 2019 on Wamda.
In a previous article, I mentioned the role of the Development Group of Eight (D8), which was established in 1996 thanks to the Turkish Prime Minister (Erbakan) at the time, and which includes the 8 largest Islamic countries in the world. Why is the volume of business across this group low despite the availability of promising markets in the eight countries, which include (Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia)?
Accordingly, countries such as Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia, which are countries in the Economic Group of 20, as well as Iran, and they have hard currencies, can finance these emerging projects, which can bring a large return due to the large size of the categories that use smartphones – and even the D8 can if there is a political will in cooperation with (China and Russia) to create a unified digital currency that can be traded between these countries.
Accordingly, projects such as payment systems and service applications through phones, educational programs, cultural products, films, series, and entertainment, all of this can be obtained through the phone and other projects that can support not only the economy between countries but also youth.
What we also notice is the absence of activities that bring together the youth of the D8 development countries in general, and Pakistan and Egypt in particular, and even on the media side itself. Unfortunately, we get to know these countries through television screens and news agencies without real-life experiences that include young people – so where are the joint media projects that erase stereotypes, and also encourage tourism and inter-investment between these countries?!
Last but not least – how can we benefit from the great Russian-Chinese strategic cooperation?
Everyone has seen the video that focused on President Xi Jinping leaving Moscow, when he put his hand on President Putin’s shoulder and told him, “Together we will make global changes that have not happened in a hundred years.” And we must think carefully about this sentence, which indicates unprecedented confidence and greater cooperation, as the West failed, with the testimony of many American Zionists, including former Secretary of State Pompeo, in igniting discord and the spirit of competition between Russia and China, contrary to the expectations of all Western analysts, and even the volume of trade exchange increased by about ($200 billion), twice what it was in just one year. 
The world has become effectively divided, a rising, strong, and successful East represented by China and Russia – and a failed West, whose entire decision depends on (Washington) being exposed to bankruptcy, unable to achieve anything in the future, subject to decay, and even America itself subject to federal disintegration, and many predicted that by 2024, perhaps It will be an inauspicious year for America in particular and that civil wars may occur between rich and poor states, a racial war between (whites) on one side and (blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, and Arabs) on the other.
The real countries that want to support and develop the south are only Russia and China, which is a historic opportunity for us to respond to the West. Because if it weren’t for us, the West wouldn’t have flourished, which takes over our wealth at the cheapest price. Who seizes our best youth to compensate for his competencies deficit, and leaves us without creative minds.
Accordingly, we need an urgent summit for the South, provided that the political will is based on three axes (cultural – economic – social). Only those who have been subjected to Western injustice and double standards will feel us, and let it be first online, and then it will move to offline.
Judgment is Your Own,
The writer – A director of Asia Center for Studies and Translation –
And Eye on the Orient a joint project with Al-Ahram Gate
MA in Political Economy and Russian Studies from the Higher School of Economics – Moscow
Member of the Council for Developing Studies of Social Science in Africa
(CODESRIA), Dakar, Senegal
Group of Strategic Vision Russia and Islamic world
Mobile: +201009229411
