Arabnews24.ca:Monday 30 January 2023 08:41 AM: CAIRO – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Egypt and the US are fully committed to developing and deepening bilateral ties.
Blinken’s remarks were made at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo.
The US top diplomat said the US priorities in its relations with Egypt are topped by the long-term economic ties which achieve the best interests for both peoples, in addition to investment in the economic infrastructure as the US extended dlrs 600 million to build a maritime cable for speeding communications.
He also noted that Washington helped Egypt in investing in the field of wind and solar energies, asserting that the US is moving ahead for further cooperation in this regard.
Blinken also pointed out that the goal behind all such efforts is to achieve tangible results, create more job opportunities and better living conditions for all.
The US diplomat reviewed the meetings held over the past few years, highlighting Egypt’s participation in the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, held in December in Washington as well as Egypt’s hosting of the UN Climate Conference (COP27), adding that such dialogues reflected how far the US is committed and highly appreciating partnership with Cairo and its importance to the region and the world.
He went on to say that the US voiced its appreciation for the Egyptian leadership during COP27 and its efforts for more action on climate change in order to help reduce emissions by 2050.
Blinken also underlined the importance of working out a swift diplomatic solution for the issue of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD), adding that the US listened to the Egyptian leadership that the issue is a matter of existence for Egypt. He said Washington is backing any solution that takes into consideration the interests of all parties along with the living conditions of the people of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.
He also said that this solution should come through flexibility by all parties.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Egypt, all through its history, exerted much efforts in dealing with the most complicated problems of the world. Cairo also worked on enhancing security, peace and prosperity in the region and continued to play such vital and important role for the region, Blinken added.
He said Egypt’s participation in the Negev conference between Israel and its neighbors came to create more integration and prosperity in the region.
Blinken said delegations from the US and Egypt along with Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco and Israel took part in Negev conference to tackle a set of important issues which affect the lives of the people of the region including food security, healthcare and security.
He also underlined Egypt’s key role in easing the wave of violence and tensions between the Palestinians and Israelis as it played a mediation role to reach a truce in 2021 and also in the past year.
The US top diplomat explained that he talked with President Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on the escalation of violence and how a joint action could be coordinated to ease tensions and restore calm in the territories.
He also asserted that the Egyptian leadership played an important role in settling the Libyan crisis and that holding elections this year could be the only road to reach an applicable solution and ensure the right of the Libyan people to choose their leadership.
Blinken also highlighted the importance of achieving progress on constitutional bases for holding the elections, praising the efforts of the UN envoy to swiftly hold elections in Libya.
Addressing a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Blinken said he discussed with the Egyptian side the efforts to support the political process in Sudan and transition to democracy, noting that Washington would support any efforts that would help in achieving prosperity for all the people of the region.
As regards the human rights file, Blinken said this file will figure high on the agenda of his talks with President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry, world partners as well as other countries.
He said the US welcomed any steps that would be taken by Egypt to protect religious freedom and women’s rights. He also praised the national dialogue launched by Egypt and the activation of the presidential pardon committee.
Blinken also noted that talks with the Egyptian government continue to take measures to achieve progress in the human rights field, noting that Washington wants to see a tangible outcome in this file.
He also pointed out to Egypt’s support to the US efforts as regards the Ukraine crisis as well as all the interests which are maintained according to the UN Convention on the states’ sovereignty and unity of their territories.
The US diplomat said this war has greatly influenced the Egyptian people as Cairo is the biggest wheat importer from Russia and Ukraine.
He also asserted that Washington is willing to ease the pressure of such war on Egypt’s economy, citing the investment of some dlrs 50 million to support Egypt’s agricultural sector.
In the past year, Egypt and the US celebrated the centennial anniversary of their relations, he said, but the focus now is on the joint future and it was included on the agenda of today’s talks.
Blinken also said that he held talks on Sunday with some Egyptian youth leaders working in various fields and was briefed on their ideas and work, asserting that the future of Egypt-US ties is strong and shining.
The US Secretary of State asserted that over the past decades the US extended dlrs 30 billion in the form of economic aid to Egypt.
He said a current challenge should be countered now, noting that Egypt, similar to many other countries, was influenced by many incidents and developments that have a great impact on the daily lives of Egyptian people in view of the inflation, hikes of food and other prices, the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the harm to the world supply chains.
Blinken said all such developments created a big storm in the people’s lives, asserting that the US is fully recognizing the matter and the need for taking action to settle all such issues.
There are some projects in the fields of food security and energy including the cables’ project, the joint economic committee, he said, adding that all parties agree on the necessity of achieving tangible results that could have direct influence.
The US top diplomat pointed out that the two sides will work on upping joint trade, explaining that Egypt has introduced reforms in accordance with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
