Egypt’s FM calls for active solutions to slowdown in food supply chain

CAIRO – 18 August 2022:  Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry participated via video conference in the coordinating ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), to build on what was agreed upon at the 8th ministerial conference of the forum, said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez.

In his speech at the FOCAC, Shoukry stressed that Egypt's active participation in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation began at an early age when the city of Sharm El-Sheikh hosted the fourth edition of the forum in 2009 and the "Sharm El-Sheikh Declaration" was adopted as a political document, Hafez said.

The Minister said that President Abdel Fatah El Sisi, during his participation in the opening of the last ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the need to give priority to a large number of projects in the development sectors, especially infrastructure, agriculture, digital transformation and adapting to the repercussions of climate change impacts.

Shoukry also stressed the urgent need to find effective and urgent solutions to a number of existing international challenges, foremost of which is the slowdown in food supply chains, the rise in energy prices, and the shortage of grains and food commodities.

He noted that these challenges should be tackled by supporting African countries by providing stimulus packages to their economies and increasing investments in the field agriculture to achieve food security in the continent, in addition to attracting investments to develop the continental linkage system in infrastructure to facilitate the process of trade exchange through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and the ambitious Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.

In addition to this, Shoukry reviewed the Egyptian vision of its presidency of the UN Conference of Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP27), which will focus on African needs and priorities, especially in the issues of adaptation to climate changes and climate financing.