A still photo of Egypt's ambassador to Russia Nazih El-Nagari in an interview with Al-Mehwar TV host Basma Wahba of (90 Minutes) show on Tuesday from Moscow.
El-Nagari added that 750,000 Russian tourists visited Egypt between January and July 2023, despite the Ukrainian-Russian crisis.
He predicted that the number of Russian tourists visiting Egypt could surpass one million by the end of the year.
The ambassador told Basma Wahba, host of 90 Minutes TV show, that Russian tourism has been recovering gradually since September 2021.
El-Nagari further stressed that most charter flights between Russia and Egypt have been restored.
He made these remarks ahead of the upcoming Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg (on 27 and 28 July), which El-Sisi is expected to attend.
“This is the second edition of the summit, which was first held in 2019. The 2019 summit was co-chaired by President Vladimir Putin and President El-Sisi, Egypt chairing the African Union then,” the Egyptian ambassador said.
El-Nagari stated that the summit aims to achieve several economic and development objectives, especially during a global economic crisis.
He stated that the summit includes an Economic and Humanitarian Summit on 27 July and a meeting for leaders on 28 July.
“Russia has huge capabilities in the economic and development field, which it tries to provide to African states so they can benefit from them," the ambassador said.
El-Nagari noted that African nations and Russia intend to boost their trade balance during the summit, stressing that trade exchange between Africa and Russia has risen to $18 billion annually over the past four years.
He also pointed out that Russia is undertaking mega projects in Africa, including the Dabaa power plant and the Russian Industrial Zone in Egypt.
“The Dabaa power plant is considered the biggest Russian nuclear power plant built outside Russia,” the Egyptian ambassador said, adding that the Russian industrial zone at the Suez Economic Zone will provide Egypt with Russian know-how and technology localization as well as job opportunities for Egyptians and access to African markets.
El-Nagari highlighted that Russia intends to invest more than $7 billion to establish the zone, thus generating about 35,000 jobs.
He was then asked about the current state of economic relations between Egypt and Russia.
In response, the ambassador stressed that agricultural goods remain Egypt's primary export to Russia, noting that the value of Egyptian exports to Russia in 2022 rose by 25 percent compared to 2021.
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