Commissioner Várhelyi renews EU’s commitment to support Egypt’s efforts against pandemic

CAIRO – 23 October 2021: European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi reiterated the EU’s commitment to support the Egyptian response to the coronavirus pandemic, state’s news agency MENA reported.

This seeks to reduce the impact of the pandemic on daily life in Egypt and includes the delivery of vaccines through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, Várhelyi said in a press statement.

Várhelyi is making an official to Egypt this weekend to take part in the Cairo Water Week (CWW2021) and to also meet with Egyptian and regional representatives for bilateral talks, a statement by the European Commission read.

Várhelyi will give a speech during the opening of the CWW, the statement said, affirming that this is the biggest and most prominent annual regional gathering to discuss water issues.

The conference comes with the theme “Water, Population and Global Changes: Challenges and Opportunities.”

“The EU is a long-standing partner of Egypt in the water sector and has mobilised more than €550 million since 2007 in response to water challenges in the country, leveraging around €3 billion in investments for the sector and creating thousands of new jobs, helping over 18 million people,” the statement read.

According to the statement, Várhelyi will meet on the next two days with Egyptian Government officials as well as high-level participants at the CWW.

He will also hold talks with Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean Nasser Kamel, where they are scheduled to discuss cooperation in key sectors of common interest for Egypt and the whole region.