DOHA – Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi stressed that the coming Arab summit, to take place in Algeria, will be held at a sensitive timing in light of the crises and tensions gripping the Arab world.
In an interview with Qatar News Agency, Sisi underlined the importance of preserving countries’ territorial integrity, not dealing with any terrorist group, backing national armies and military institutions, shoring up the powers of legitimate authorities to foil any foreign attempts to tamper with the fate of Arab countries, stressing as well the need for enhancing the principles of citizenship to preserve societal peace.
He said his visit to Qatar reflects the development witnessed in the two countries’ relations over the past period and the sincere desire by their leaderships to deepen cooperation to serve their national interests.
The visit also mirrors the two countries’ true desire to boost inter-Arab solidarity and activate joint Arab action to preserve regional security and stability at the current stage.
The President expressed his appreciation to the Qatari leadership, government and people for the good reception and hospitality that he received during the visit, saying this reflects the development and momentum that relations have gained in the recent period.
He stressed that economic and investment cooperation between Egypt and Qatar is one of the most promising areas of joint interaction, saying this topic was discussed in detail over the past year between senior Egyptian and Qatari officials in light of the variety of available investment opportunities in Egypt.
Sisi hoped that the ideas and initiatives that were floated lately would turn into joint investment projects in the natural gas and renewable energy domains as well as the green hydrogen and petrochemical industries and lead to a closer cooperation between Egypt’s sovereign fund and its Qatari counterpart.
He said Egypt and Qatar can also join hands in carrying out agricultural projects in light of the current disruption in global supply chains, referring in this regard to the important meeting with the Qatari Businessmen Association and the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and the agreements that were signed between the two countries.
He praised the role of Qatar and the way it handled a number of regional political files and the good results it achieved in this regard, citing the recent Qatari mediation to back the national dialogue between the Chadian transitional regime and armed opposition groups. Egypt supports such kind of efforts and looks forward to cooperating with the Qatari side to achieve stability, development and security in the African continent.
As regards Qatar’s preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, President Sisi congratulated Qatar for hosting this international sports event that will be taking place for the first time in the Arab region, saying it opens up prospects for the region to host more international sports events. He expressed his confidence in Qatar’s organizational and logistics abilities to bring success to this global prestigious event.
On the upcoming Arab summit in Algeria and ways to restore Arab solidarity, President Sisi said the upcoming Arab summit in Algeria is being held at a sensitive timing in light of the many crises and tensions gripping the Arab world and the spread of terrorism, underlining the importance of preserving countries’ territorial integrity, not dealing with any terrorist group, backing national armies and military institutions, shoring up the powers of legitimate authorities to foil any foreign attempts to tamper with the fate of Arab countries, stressing as well the need for enhancing the principles of citizenship to preserve societal peace.
These are the general principles around which all the problems of the Arab region revolve, and this is the framework which “we look forward to cooperating with our Arab brothers to promote during the upcoming summit,” he said.
As for ways to enhance Arab solidarity and the role of the Arab League in this context, he said it is necessary to overcome inter-Arab differences and direct Arab efforts at the present time towards enhancing coordination and partnership for political and economic integration.
