Sisi stresses keenness to boost ties with IAEA

president Abdel Fattah El Sisi reiterated Egypt’s keenness to strengthen co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and to benefit from its expertise in the implementation of the highest international standards in the field of nuclear security measures.

The president’s remarks came during his meeting on Thursday with Mr Rafael Mariano Grossi, IAEA Director General, in the presence of Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukri, and Head of General Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel, Presidency Spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi said.

Welcoming the director general’s visit to Egypt, President Sisi said that “the Atomic Energy Agency bears a great responsibility towards enhancing stability and security in the region”.

He also praised IAEA director general’s efforts to activate the important role of the IAEA in the use of nuclear science and technology worldwide, and its efforts to disseminate international peace and security, he added, noting that IAEA has a great role in enhancing the region’s stability and security.

The president also referred to Egypt’s policy that aims at benefiting from the peaceful uses of atomic energy in the development process through the establishment of the al-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant, Ambassador Radi said.

For his part, Mr Grossi expressed the agency’s full support for al-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant project, which is an important and major step in the direction of adopting peaceful uses of nuclear energy in Egypt.

Such a step, he added, would raise Egypt to wider horizons in the development process and make it one of the pioneering countries in this field in the region. He expressed aspiration that “this project represents a model for fruitful bilateral co-operation between IAEA and Egypt,” Radi said.

The meeting reviewed ways of co-operation between Egypt and IAEA as part of the initiative that the IAEA intends to launch under the title “Rays of Hope” to treat cancer patients in Africa.

The meeting also featured a review of Egypt’s hosting of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Summit COP27 in 2022, and the possibility of benefiting from organising this huge event in highlighting the importance of the use of clean energy in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and combating climate change.