Polish envoy stresses importance of Shoukry’s Warsaw visit

Polish Ambassador to Egypt Michal Murkociński underlined the importance of a planned visit by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to Warsaw on Wednesday.

Shoukry will be meeting his Polish counterpart Grzegorz Schetyna for talks on means of promoting economic cooperation and the latest developments in the Middle East (Yemen, Libya and Syria) and East Europe (Ukraine and Russia), Murkociński told MENA.

During the visit, the Egyptian foreign minister will also meet with speakers of the upper and lower chambers of parliament, the deputy prime minister and defense minister, he said.

The volume of trade exchange between the two countries hit 420 million dollars last year with Poland’s investments in Egypt mainly focused in the tourism field, he said.

An invitation was extended to Trade and Industry Minister Mounir Fakhri Abdel Nour and Agriculture Minister Salah Eddin Hilal to visit Warsaw before the end of the year, the Polish envoy added.

He said he was happy with the success of the Egypt Economic Development Conference, which took place last month in Sharm El Sheikh, saying it showed that Egypt had a long-term program for development.

Poland is ready to share its expertise to carry out ambitious projects in Egypt, he said, noting that talks are underway between the two foreign ministries for a number of memos of understanding on diplomatic cooperation and consular issues.

Egypt is facing huge challenges from terror organizations that have been killing soldiers in Sinai and staging attacks against civilians, he said.

He denounced the murder of 21 Egyptian nationals in Libya, saying Poland understands Egypt’s decision of staging retaliatory airstrikes against Daesh targets in Libya.