Albania seeks to promote economic, trade cooperation with Egypt: amb.

CAIRO - 20 May 2018: Albanian Ambassador to Egypt Eduard Sulo stressed that his country seeks to promote economic and trade cooperation with Egypt.

In an interview with MENA, the diplomat said the trade exchange between the two countries hit 22 million dollars last year compared to 4 million dollars in 2012/2013.

Albania imports granite, porcelain, white marble, vegetables and fruit from Egypt, he added.

About the investment climate in Egypt, he said Egypt is an investment-magnet country and both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and the government are adopting the right approach despite the hardships in the region prompted by the spread of extremist and terrorist ideologies.

He added that Albanian businessmen are eager to invest in Egypt and are now negotiating to set up joint factories for manufacturing construction materials to both secure local market's needs and export the rest.

A number of agreements in the maritime transport, agriculture and economic cooperation domains are now prepared for signing by the two sides, the diplomat said.

He hoped that the first meeting of Egyptian-Albanian higher committee will take place in the second half of 2018 after many years' hiatus to mull boosting cooperation in different domains.

He referred to the latest visit paid by a delegation representing the Arab-Latin American business council to Albania to stand on the country's potentials and facilitation offered to foreign investors.

He underlined the importance of exerting more efforts to lure Albanian tourists to Egypt, saying very small numbers of Albanians come every year to visit Luxor, Aswan, Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada.

He said an Albanian team will come soon to Egypt to shoot a documentary on tourist places in the country.

Also, Sulo said he is working for drafting an agreement to facilitate direct flights between Egypt and Albania. Efforts are also underway to attract Egyptians to visit Albania known for its high mountains and forests, he added.

As for Egypt's counter-terrorism efforts, he said there is a close cooperation between Egypt and Albania in this domain, adding that Albania is also confronting terrorism.

Last year, Albanian security forces foiled a terrorist attack targeting a match between the Albanian and Israeli football teams.