The issue of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was the focus of talks this week between President Abdel Fattah el Sisi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson amid assertions by the Egyptian leader on the critical nature of this issue regarding Egypt’s national security.
In a phone conversation late Thursday, President Sisi told Prime Minister Johnson that a legally-binding deal on the operation and the filling of the GERD has to be reached.
The two leaders also discussed Libya and bilateral cooperation in investments, education, health and security.
Earlier in the day, President Sisi expressed admiration for the nation’s health service workers and their sacrifices during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Health service workers saved the lives of thousands of people who had contracted the disease,” the president said in a speech delivered on his behalf during a ceremony marking the national Doctors’ Day.
On Wednesday, the president discussed bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern in the Eastern Mediterranean during phone talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The Egyptian leader said his country takes pride in its close relations with Greece, whether at the bilateral level or within the framework of the tripartite cooperation mechanism with Cyprus.
President Sisi added that Egypt is eager to work more closely with Greece to meet the aspirations of their two peoples.
On Tuesday, President Sisi held talks by phone with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa during which he expressed hopes for advancing cooperation with the south Asian island country in the economic and investment fields.
The Egyptian leader also welcomed cooperation with Sri Lanka in the national megaprojects now being implemented across Egypt.
Monday was full of good news for the nation’s civil servants as President Sisi instructed the government to award government workers pay increases and raise the minimum monthly to LE2,400.
The president ordered the allocation of LE37 billion for the salary increases.
President Sisi also directed the government to increase pensions by 13 percent, for which LE31 billion had been earmarked.
The president’s directives to the government also included two increments for civil servants at a total cost of LE7.5 billion.
A day earlier, the president asked the Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer to formulate a new real estate finance programme, enabling limited and middle-income Egyptians to buy homes with low-interest bank loans repayable over 30 years.
The president said the interest rate should not exceed 3 percent.
