Sixth round of Egypt-Belarus political talks held

The Foreign Ministry hosted the sixth round of political consultations between senior officials of Egypt and Belarus on Monday.

The talks were led by Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs Hatem Seiful-Nasr and Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Rybakov.

Cairo is keen to promote its ties with Belarus in the economic, trade, investment, cultural, transport and construction domains, Seiful-Nasr said during the meeting.

He said that 22 Belarusian companies are working in the Egyptian market in different fields, saying he hopes the country’s investments, currently standing at $1.4 billion, to increase.

He shed light on the economic and financial reform measures Egypt has adopted to achieve better growth rates and attract more foreign investments, including the issuance of a new investment law and tax reforms.

He also pointed out to the launch of mega national projects in Egypt, such as the new Suez Canal that will be inaugurated in the first week of August.

The Egyptian official also reviewed the political scene in Egypt and the steps the country has made on the political roadmap to lay the foundations of a democratic state.

The talks also addressed the war on terrorism and Egyptian efforts to foil terrorist plots, the latest of which was a botched terror attack in Luxor’s Karnak Temple last week.

The two sides also tackled the Middle East peace process and the situation in Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.