Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken co-chaired the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue on 18 September.  Abdelatty and Blinken both characterised the dialogue as a reflection of their government’s keenness to strengthen relations and advance peace and development in the Middle East. They also stressed the importance of increasing US investment and economic support to Egypt.

Abdelatty described Egypt-US relations as “very strong” and said he spoke with Blinken in detail about developing relations in a framework of mutual respect.

The dialogue probed ways to encourage American companies to work in the Egyptian market and access the opportunities offered by the Egyptian economy, said Abdelatty. He added that both he and Blinken agreed on the importance of holding a joint US-Egyptian business conference during the first quarter of next year and increasing the volume of trade between the two countries.

The dialogue paid particular attention to developing partnerships to help achieve Egypt’s Vision 2030 in the education and tourist sectors, and on working to preserve Egypt’s cultural heritage.

US-supported initiatives are currently underway to supply nine additional STEM schools across Egypt with state-of-the-art laboratory equipment, to upgrade 80 Egyptian technical education schools and expand US-funded university career centres to 19 more Egyptian universities, allowing young Egyptians to prepare for and obtain the jobs of the future, said Abdelatty. He also announced that three leading US universities — the Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Minnesota, and Drake University — are exploring the possibility of opening branch campuses in Egypt, giving Egyptian students the chance to receive an American education in their home country.

Blinken said the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue underscored the commitment of both countries to continuously strengthen their century-long relationship in a way that is focused on delivering for their two peoples.

He announced that the US government, through USAID, will invest $129 million to advance joint US-Egypt priorities, including reforms to promote a private sector driven economy and advance the public education and public health systems.

“Together we are enhancing economic cooperation, advancing broad-based opportunities for Egyptians and Americans, helping women-owned small businesses get greater access to financing and expanding foreign direct investment beyond the more than 1,000 American companies already present in Egypt,” said Blinken.

The latest round of the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue followed Washington’s hosting of the second US-Egypt Joint Economic Commission which made progress on a bilateral agreement that will help unlock greater private sector participation and investment in Egypt.

Blinken noted that “building on Egypt’s leadership on climate and its hosting of COP27 in 2022, our two countries are continuing to accelerate the clear energy transition,” and that US work to support the preservation of Egypt’s archaeological heritage included efforts to list the Great Temple of Abydos as a UNESCO World Heritage site and grow the tourism sector.

He welcomed the steps that Egypt has taken on human rights — releasing detainees, advancing efforts to reform pre-trial detention, resolving cases involving travel bans and asset freezes for NGO employees — and “the additional steps Egypt intends to take, including adopting and implementing penal code reforms, continuing to pardon and release prisoners and detainees, and ensuring that journalists, human rights defenders, and all Egyptians can voice any disagreements freely.”

Abdelatty underlined that Egypt’s new human rights strategy was launched not in order to satisfy external parties but for the benefit of the Egyptian people.

While human rights have always been a contentious issue between Washington and Cairo, says Cairo University professor of political science Tarek Fahmi, “recently there has been significant progress on this file.”

According to Blinken, “respecting and safeguarding fundamental freedoms can only strengthen the partnership between the US and Egypt.”

“Multiple crises, including the war in Gaza, tensions in the Red Sea and armed conflicts in Sudan and Libya, have brought Egypt and the US closer. The leaders in the two countries realise that they need each other,” argues Fahmi. “The US needs Egypt’s mediation efforts and peacemaking contributions to advance stability in the Middle East and Africa, and Egypt needs US economic support and mediation in some files, including with Ethiopia over Nile water.”

Abdelatty told Al-Ahram on 23 September that the US-Egypt strategic relationship does not come at the expense of Cairo’s relations with either China or Russia, saying “this is not a zero-sum game… Egypt needs to support its relations with all world powers to serve its own interests.”

* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 September, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly