Hangzhou Summit will be a compete success: Egyptian President
By Liu Shuiming, Han Xiaoming from the People’s Daily
China has made tremendous and pioneering efforts to ensure the success of the G20 Summit, and the meeting will certainly be a success whose results live up to international expectations, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told the People’s Daily ahead of the summit.
The theme of the summit, “Towards An Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy,” perfectly echoes the demands of today’s global economy, he added.
Extending gratitude to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for inviting him to the meeting as the head of a guest country, el-Sisi said that the invitation revealed not only the profound friendship between China and Egypt, but also Egypt’s influence in international and regional affairs.
Egypt supports the initiatives put forward by China as the host country of the summit, and will cooperate with China to implement those proposals as well, the president pledged.
He also hailed time-honored China-Egypt ties, noting that the two countries established diplomatic ties as early as 1956, making Egypt the first Arab and African nation that recognized the People’s Republic of China.
This unshakable relationship will continue to deepened, he stressed. Both sides will host a series of events to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year, the president added, pointing to this year’s China-Egypt Culture Year as an example.
Along with closer ties, bilateral cooperation will expand to almost all fields including matters of politics, the economy, military, security and culture, el-Sisi said, pointing out that relations between the two countries were further reinforced after ties were lifted to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2014.
With both sides recognizing the great importance of these ties, future cooperation is sure to yield more results while embracing further expansion, the president concluded.
He also explained that in a bid to move bilateral relations forward, the two governments also communicates and consults each other on various sectors based on China’s technological potential and investment capability, as well as employment and investment opportunities provided by Egypt.
Egypt values the role played by China in boosting Africa-China relations, Arab-China ties and South-South cooperation, the president said. He suggested that given China’s advantageous technology and investments and Egypt’s ideal strategic position, his country can serve as the former’s gateway into Africa.
“Egypt welcomes Chinese investment. Chinese products can be exported to the African continent through free-trade-agreements signed between Egypt and African nations,” the president explained.
Praising China’s “Belt and Road” initiative as a positive move that will facilitate cooperation and benefit the public, el-Sisi said that his country backs this proposal.
By establishing the Suez Canal Corridor development project, building new canals and seven more ports and expanding road networks, Egypt can be a key pivot along the route covered by the initiative, which in turn will bolster trade between Egypt and Asian nations, including China, he added.
El-Sisi stressed that his country also hopes to learn from China’s development experience when it comes to reforms in fields such as local government administration, information technology and agricultural technology.
“Egypt will continue its close cooperation with China in all sectors,” the president concluded.
