On Saturday, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi began a European tour to Denmark, Norway, and Ireland, the first time he has visited any of these countries since coming to power.

The agenda during the first two legs of the trip — reflected in meetings and statements — included promoting Egypt as an investment destination, strengthening bilateral ties and exchanging views on recent international developments.

Addressing Danish officials and representatives of the business community, Al-Sisi said a series of regional and international challenges had prompted the Egyptian government to foster an environment conducive to attracting foreign investments, empowering the private sector and creating job opportunities. He underlined how, as a result of reforms taken,

economic indicators had improved along with Egypt’s credit rating.

In Denmark, President Al-Sisi witnessed the launch of the Egyptian Danish Business Council.

“The establishment of the Business Council serves as a gateway for Danish economic and commercial bodies to explore investment opportunities in Egypt, notably in infrastructure, information and communication technology, transformative industries and the production of clean, renewable energy,” said the president. Investments in these strategic sectors “align with Egypt’s ambitions to become a regional hub for supply chains and the transport and trade of renewable and green energy by leveraging its strategic location and investment-friendly zones such as the Suez Canal Economic Zone.”

On Monday, President Al-Sisi flew from Copenhagen to Norway where he met Crown Prince Haakon Magnus and representatives of Norwegian investment funds and energy companies.

Al-Sisi told his interlocutors that attracting foreign direct investment is a priority for the government and the Egyptian market “offers numerous opportunities across vital sectors of mutual interest, such as energy, including traditional, new, renewable and green sources, transport, infrastructure, industry, agriculture and information and communications technology.”

Presidential Spokesperson Mohamed Al-Shennawi said that during his meeting with potential investors in Oslo, Al-Sisi stressed that Egypt is prioritising development of its renewable energy sector,

In Copenhagen, Al-Sisi held talks with Danish business leaders, including Philip Christiani, head of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a major investor in renewables, and Robert Maersk Uggla, chairman of the shipping and logistics giant Maersk which has been operating in Egypt for decades.

Christiani expressed his company’s keenness to invest in Egypt’s green energy projects while the chairman of Maersk discussed plans to expand the company’s activities.

Maersk is the majority owner of the Suez Canal Container Terminal in East Port Said. In 2022, the company signed a $500 million agreement with the Suez Canal Economic Zone to build and operate a second container terminal in the port, increasing its capacity by 40 per cent.

It is worth noting that C2X, the green energy arm of Maersk, began work on constructing a massive green fuel production facility for ships in October 2023, a project that will aid Egypt’s decarbonisation efforts.

Denmark’s cooperation with Egypt on renewables dates to the early nineties when the Risø National Laboratory at the Technical University of Denmark helped Egypt develop its first Wind Atlas, scoping out wind energy potential and recording data on the wind speed and direction. In the 2000s, the Danish Sustainable Infrastructure Fund became a major contributor to the financing and development of the Zafarana wind farm, one of the largest wind power plants in Egypt.

In Norway, President Al-Sisi underlined Egypt’s keenness to invest in and expand green energy production and cooperate with Norway in the field of green hydrogen production using renewable energy sources.

Al-Sisi met with the heads of several Norwegian companies, including Scatec and Empower, as well as the head of the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (NORFUND) which provides capital and experience to private enterprises in countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Balkans.

The Norwegian green energy giant Scatec is among the investors in Egypt’s Green Hydrogen Project which will provide UAE’s Fertiglobe with the green hydrogen needed to produce green ammonia for export to Europe.

President Al-Sisi witnessed the signing of a contract between Empower and Majid Al-Futtaim to implement a solar energy project for industrial purposes in Egypt. He also signed a joint declaration with King Frederick X of Denmark to upgrade the level of Egyptian-Danish relations to a strategic partnership, with a particular focus on forging closer relations between the two countries’ private sectors.

In Norway, President Al-Sisi met with King Harald V and senior officials, including Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The meeting reflected mutual understanding between both sides on the importance of maintaining regular political consultations and coordinating positions on regional and international issues, not least support for the Palestinian people and the restoration of stability in the Middle East. On the sidelines of the meeting, a memorandum of understanding was signed to launch a mechanism for political consultation between the two countries.

Al-Sisi — the first Egyptian president to visit Norway since diplomatic relations were established in 1936 — commended the two countries’ bilateral relations and the progress achieved in recent years.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 December, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly