By Mohamed Attia
Minister of Civil Aviation, Sameh el Hefny, stressed the ministry’s commitment to strengthening co-operation with Iraq, expanding coordination and exchange of expertise, and providing opportunities for co-operation in training, technical support and human resources development, in a way that serves the mutual interests of both countries.
This came during a meeting between the Minister of Civil Aviation and Qahtan Taha Khalaf, Ambassador of Iraq to Egypt, and his accompanying delegation at the Ministry of Civil Aviation headquarters. The meeting discussed prospects for co-operation between the two countries in civil aviation and ways to enhance coordination and exchange expertise in areas of mutual interest.
For his part, Khalaf expressed his appreciation for the warm welcome and said that Iraq looks forward to expanding co-operation with Egypt in civil aviation, benefiting from Egypt’s technical capabilities and advanced training programmes, and creating new opportunities for co-operation between the two countries.
In a separate meeting, el-Hefny met with Wilmer Omar Barientos, Ambassador of Venezuela to Cairo, and his accompanying delegation to discuss prospects for co-operation in civil aviation and a number of issues of mutual interest.
The meeting was attended by Amr Nagaty, Permanent Undersecretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and Lamia Samy, Director General of International Relations and Agreements at the ministry.
The discussions included the latest developments regarding the air transport agreement between Egypt and Venezuela and the procedures required to complete it. The agreement is expected to provide a regulatory framework supporting the development of air traffic and creating more opportunities for air connectivity between the two countries.
El-Hefny stressed the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s commitment to providing the necessary support and coordination for Venezuelan airlines, in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures. This would help facilitate their operations and create opportunities for operating flights between the two countries, while supporting travel, tourism and trade.
The Venezuelan ambassador said that his country plans to boost tourism in the coming period and strengthen its relations with countries in the Middle East. He also noted that Venezuela places great importance on developing air transport, which would contribute to increasing travel and opening new opportunities for co-operation and air connectivity with Egypt.
El-Hefny also received Askar Zhenis, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Cairo, at the ministry’s headquarters to discuss a number of issues of mutual interest in civil aviation, particularly the possibility of resuming the Cairo–Almaty route.
The meeting discussed ways to boost air traffic between Egypt and Kazakhstan in line with travel demand, as well as opportunities to strengthen bilateral co-operation in civil aviation in support of economic, tourism and trade relations between the two countries.
El-Hefny emphasised the importance of the Kazakh market to the aviation and tourism sectors, pointing to the promising opportunities created by the growing travel movement between Egypt and Central Asian countries and the need to take advantage of them by strengthening air connectivity between the two countries.
The Kazakh ambassador, for his part, highlighted the importance of restoring the direct Cairo–Almaty route and continuing coordination and discussions with the Egyptian side on the necessary steps, in a way that would support tourism and strengthen ties between the two sides.
