al-Ganzouri Czech Deputy Meet on Bilateral Cooperation

Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri met on 2/4/2012 with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg for talks on bilateral cooperation, particularly in the commercial, economic and investment domains. The meeting was attended by Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs Ambassador Amr Helmi. Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, during a meeting with his Czech counterpart, called on the Czech government to encourage tourist companies to double the number of trips to Egypt. Amr said the security situation has become stable in Egypt and the people welcome the arrival of more tourists. Amr also said he hopes Czech airlines will resume its Egypt flights, Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Roshdi said. Egypt also looks forward to cooperating with the Czech Republic in the mine clearance domain, he said.

Meanwhile, Industry Minister Mahmoud Eissa said in his speech before the Egyptian-Czech Business Forum that there are promising opportunities to increase economic cooperation between Egypt and the Czech Republic, especially in the fields of renewable energy, transportation, tourism and infrastructure projects. The formation of the Egyptian-Czech business forum is considered a first step to promote economic cooperation between the two countries, he added. The Egyptian government seeks to make use of the successful Czech expertise in the technology transfer field, he added.

Eissa said witness more facilities would e offered to businessmen in the coming stage from the two countries, pointing out that Egypt possesses potentials to attract greater of foreign direct investments. Speaking at a press conference following the meeting, Schwarzenberg said that the Czech-Egyptian Business Council is to hold a meeting soon to discuss means to increase investment in Egypt and double the volume of trade exchange between the two countries. Czech investments in Egypt at U.S. to $ 60 million and described relations binding the two countries as deeply- rooted. He asserted his country's support for democratic transition in Egypt.