In an interview with Al-Ahram daily newspaper following the US-African summit published on Tuesday, Mahlab stressed that development in the African region would be the only way to combat extremist thought and fight terrorism.

Attending the summit, Mahlab explained, he had the chance to meet several US officials and businessmen to which he could talk about the reforms Egypt had been embarking on. He discussed possibilities for development cooperation that would work on combating ignorance and poverty to end terrorism.

“I said if there are investments there will be employment and that would require unifying programmes and developing them...as long as there is a supporting body in the US not just for Egypt but for the African region.”

Egypt is playing an important role in combating terrorism, Mahlab further added, highlighting how that in turn serves the whole world as terrorism has become an “international industry and trade.”

“The US president’s decision to allocate $110 billion to combat terrorism assures us that they are on the same path as us,” Mahlab opined, stressing that development is the key.

Talking about the new Suez Canal project, Mahalab said that it will have a major impact on Egypt politically, economically and socially.

The Suez Canal Development mega project includes the development of several seaports in the three governorates bordering the canal – Suez, Ismailia and Port Said – in addition to a seaport in the South Sinai city of Nuweiba and the development of Sharm Al-Sheikh airport.

It also involves digging a 72 kilometre-long waterway alongside the Suez Canal, costing $4 billion.

As for the recent governmental decision to cut subsidies, Mahlab said that despite there being some objections here and there, there is general acceptance of the decision as “people have faith in Egypt’s new leadership.”

Egypt will hold an economic conference soon, the PM said, and talks are ongoing with Saudi and UAE officials in preparation. The conference will be to discuss international investments especially because there is strong support from the Gulf countries, he said.

Last week, Mahlab flew to Washington to attend the US-African summit during which he also held talks with his Algerian and Ethiopian counterparts.

The talks involved the impact of the Ethiopian high dam on Egypt’s share of water which Mahlab said will be discussed in a meeting planned between ministers of irrigation at the end of August.

Egypt, a key US ally in the Middle East, had initially not been included on the 50-strong guest-list for the summit, because it had been suspended from the African Union following the ousting of president Mohamed Morsi.

Cairo was reinstated to the 54-member pan-African bloc in June and the White House issued an invitation for Egypt to attend the talks.