Italian Interior Min visit to Egypt confirms depth of relations

CAIRO – 17 December 2017: Italian Interior Minister Marco Minetti visit to Egypt on Sunday indicates the positive development of relations between Egypt and Italy, said Egyptian Ambassador to Rome Hisham Badr said to ON Live channel.

Badr added that this visit confirming the normalization of bilateral relations in a way reflects the depth and partnership of relations and cooperation in all fields.

Marco Minetti is one of the prominent figures in political community in Italy who has a main role in returning the diplomatic relations, pointed out Badr.

The Egyptian Ambassador explained that Italian tourism was one of the biggest tourism to Egypt all over the world which reached 1,200,000 Italian tourists, then declined to 50,000 tourists but now rose to more 200,000 tourists.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received Italian Interior Minister Marco Minetti on Sunday to discuss ways of boosting relations between the two countries.

The meeting covered international and regional issues of common concern, presidency spokesperson Bassam Radi said, stressing the importance of enhancing cooperation between Egypt and Italy at various levels.

Radi added that Egypt seeks to achieve a strong partnership between the two friendly countries.

Consensus between the two countries is necessary in order to solve the Libyan crisis and rebuild state institutions especially the national army, parliament and government, which are all important for elections to take place in 2018, Radi added.

Cooperation between the two countries is expected, especially in the field of combating illegal immigration, terrorism and economic relations by increasing Italian investments in Egypt, Minetti added.