Sisi meets with Merkel, Minister President of Bavaria Söder

CAIRO – 16 February 2019: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met Saturday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the Munich Security Policy Conference.

Chancellor Merkel has welcomed Sisi’s visit to Germany, affirming her country’s keenness to boost relations with Egypt on various fields, Presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said on Saturday.

Merkel also added that Egypt represents a cornerstone for stability and security in the Middle East and Africa.

For his part, the Egyptian leader expressed his appreciation to the meeting with Merkel, stressing keenness to boost relations and coordination between the two countries.

Moreover, Sisi affirmed Egypt’s willingness to further develop more interaction especially with Egypt’s chairmanship of the African Union and Germany’s membership at the UN Security Council.

He also stressed the importance of adding to the positive outcomes of the visit by Germany’s Minister of Economy and Energy to Cairo on head of a delegation of representatives from major Germany companies.

The statement added that the meeting witnessed talks in a number of issues of common concern and the continuous development of relations between the two countries, especially economically, pointing out that a number of hulking German firms like Mercedes have decided to continue their business in Egypt.

The meeting also touched on a number of regional and international crises, including the crisis in Libya and Syria and Egypt’s vision towards boosting African cooperation in light of Egypt’s. The Egyptian President also suggested that Germany can initiate economic trilateral projects between Egypt, Germany and the African continent.

Moreover, the Egyptian leader also met with Minister President of Bavaria Markus Söder at his residency in Germany.

According to the statement, Sisi also expressed his appreciation to the warm welcome received by the government of Bavaria during his participation at the Munich Security Policy Conference.

Söder announced he was pleased to meet with Sisi, stressing that the German and Egyptian people have close and historic relations and that ties between the two countries have witnessed significant boost during the recent years.