Ashraf AboArafe
Mr. Dr. Badr Abdel Aati, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs, received a phone call on Tuesday, August 20, from Mr. Omar Paganini, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay.
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the official spokesman and Director of the Public Diplomacy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, stated that the two ministers were keen at the beginning of the meeting to express their happiness at completing the call, as Minister Abdel Aati was keen to express Egypt’s pride in its relations with Uruguay since the establishment of relations between the two countries in 1932, which are based on friendship and mutual respect, and the aspiration to enhance coordination and cooperation between the two countries at the bilateral and international levels in all fields, pointing out the importance of working to increase the frequency of mutual visits between the two countries at all levels to reflect the distinguished bilateral relations.
Ambassador Abu Zeid explained that the two sides expressed their aspiration to hold a new round of political consultations between the two countries in Cairo, and Minister Abdel Aati was keen to praise the role of the Uruguayan battalion participating in the multinational force in Sinai since its establishment in 1982. The Minister of Foreign Affairs also stressed the importance of enhancing bilateral trade exchange and benefiting from the great potential of the two countries, and the existence of a free trade agreement between Egypt and the Mercosur group, which opens new horizons for activating economic and trade relations, and the possibility of benefiting from the existence of free trade agreements between Egypt and African and Arab countries, which enables Uruguay to access new markets in Africa and the Middle East. Dr. Abdel Aati was keen to point out the importance of expanding the scope of bilateral cooperation to include other areas such as agriculture, livestock, fisheries, pharmaceutical industry, tourism, oil and natural gas, and green hydrogen. He highlighted the efforts of the Egyptian state in attracting foreign direct investment, the possibility of the Uruguayan side benefiting from promising investment opportunities in Egypt, and considering launching a bilateral partnership between Egypt and Uruguay in the field of maritime transport and logistics services based on achieving the common interests of both sides, and opening channels of communication and exchanging expertise in the field of maritime and river transport and management of ports and waterways. The official spokesman concluded his statements by pointing out that the call witnessed the discussion of cooperation and coordination between the two countries in multilateral forums, and the Uruguayan Foreign Minister was keen to praise Egypt’s regional role, and the two sides agreed to work on arranging a bilateral meeting at the earliest opportunity.
