Sisi to attend opening of Egyptian-Cypriot Business Forum

CAIRO – 20 November 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will attend the upcoming meeting of the Egyptian-Cypriot Business Forum during his visit to Cyprus, said presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady on Sunday.

Rady added during a TV call on Al Hayah Channel that economic collaboration between Egypt and Cyprus is strong, stating that the Cypriot side is seeking to enhance bilateral relations with Egypt in many fields, including maritime transport.

President Sisi discussed on Sunday the indicators of current financial and economic performance with Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy, as well as two deputy finance ministers, Ahmed Kojak and Sherine El-Sharkawy, added Rady.

Sisi directed the government to continue its commitment to rationalize public expenditure. In turn, he called for higher spending on education and healthcare, as well as more investments in infrastructure, upgrading services offered to citizens.

Sisi is heading an Egyptian delegation to Nicosia on Monday for an official two-day visit.

During the visit, Sisi will participate in the fifth Egyptian-Greek-Cypriot tripartite summit beginning on Tuesday. Several topics are expected to be discussed during the summit, including coordination between the three countries, as well as enhancing relations on the political, economic, trade, security and tourism fronts.

Counterterrorism efforts will be one of the major topics tackled by the three leaders during their meeting on Tuesday in Nicosia, according to an official statement by the presidency.

Previous tripartite summits between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus were held in Cairo in 2014 and in Nicosia in April 2015. The third summit took place in Athens and the fourth was in Cairo in 2016.