Egypt’s tourism & antiquities min. convenes with Serbian deputy-prime minister to discuss means of cooperation

CAIRO – 1 July 2021: On June 30, Egypt’s Minister of Tourism & Antiquities Khaled El-Enani convened with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and Information Maja Gojkovic on the sidelines of her visit to Egypt, to discuss means of joint cooperation between the two countries in the fields of tourism and archaeology.

During the meeting, a number of topics were discussed to build bridges of cooperation between the two countries in the field of tourism and archaeological work.

For her part, Maja Gojkovic expressed her happiness to visit Egypt for the second time, as she first visited Egypt when she was serving as Speaker of the Serbian Parliament. Gojkovic noted her country's desire to benefit from Egyptian experiences in the field of archeology, museums, restoration, development of archaeological sites, and in recovering antiquities illegally smuggled abroad.

Moreover, both officials discussed the possibility of preparing a memorandum of cooperation between the two countries to combat antiquities smuggling and trafficking, and examined the possibility of twinning between the National Museum in Belgrade and one of the Egyptian archaeological museums.

The participation of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the cultural celebration, which will be organized by Serbia in 2022, through the establishment of an exhibition of Egyptian antiquities in Serbia, was also discussed.

During the meeting, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities expressed his hope that the coming period would witness more fruitful cooperation in the field of tourism and archaeological work between the two countries, stressing full readiness to provide Serbia with the Egyptian expertise it needs.

Enani also reviewed the efforts made by the Egyptian state in the tourism sector to confront the global pandemic.

At the end of the meeting, Gojkovic invited the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities to visit Serbia.