Ashraf AboArafe
Dr. Badr Abdel Aati, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, received on Friday, November 1, Mr. Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
During the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed the visit of the UN official to Egypt, which is his first visit since assuming his position, noting Egypt’s great interest in the scope of the organization’s work, which includes issues related to shipping and maritime transport. In this context, Minister Abdel Aati reviewed the repercussions of the Houthi attacks on commercial ships passing through Bab al-Mandab and the southern Red Sea, and their negative impact on Egyptian interests, noting that these repercussions have cost the Egyptian economy huge losses in Suez Canal revenues estimated at about $6 billion.
Regarding the path of cooperation between Egypt and the International Maritime Organization, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed the Egyptian side’s keenness to enhance the frameworks of joint cooperation with the organization, given the advanced importance of shipping and maritime transport to Egypt, especially in light of the importance of the Suez Canal as one of the most prominent global waterways, as well as Egypt’s coastlines extending along the Red and Mediterranean Seas. He pointed out that Egypt will continue to play a leading role within the organization, based on its membership in its Executive Council and its great interest in the field of maritime transport. Minister Abdel Aati also expressed Egypt’s aspiration to open the organization’s regional representation office for Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa region in Alexandria in the coming months, noting that Egypt’s hosting of this office would enhance cooperation between the organization and the countries of the region and push it to broader horizons.
