In a meeting in Cairo, Shoukry affirmed Egypt’s aspiration to enhance British engagement in giant development projects in Egypt and the exploitation of promising Egyptian investment opportunities, a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs read.

Shoukry, who is also president-designate of the 2022 UN Climate Conference (COP27), highlighted to Lord Ahmad the Egyptian national efforts regarding transitioning to a green economy and this step’s significance, especially in light of Egypt’s scheduled hosting of the conference in November.

Egypt is gearing up to host the climate summit this year with ambitions to turn climate change-related pledges to action and ensuring that developing countries receive the required funding to face climate change.

Late in March, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson affirmed in a phone call with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi the UK’s keenness to continue cooperating with Egypt in its efforts to confront climate change and any measures it takes to boost the economy.

El-Sisi told Johnson that Egypt will adopt a comprehensive and impartial approach during its presidency of the conference to build on the success achieved by last year’s COP26 and ensure that the conference achieves positive results that support international climate action.

Human rights, bilateral cooperation

The top Egyptian diplomat highlighted to Lord Ahmad Egypt’s achievements in human rights as part of the country’s National Strategy for Human Rights.

He also reviewed with the British minister the relevant Egyptian efforts to uphold the principles of citizenship and equality, promoting the values ​​of tolerance and renewing religious discourse within the framework of efforts to combat extremism.

The meeting underlined the importance of holding the first partnership council between Egypt and the UK under the co-chairmanship of Shoukry and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in order to further enhance bilateral cooperation and hold talks on a host of issues of mutual interest, the statement said.

Shoukry also welcomed the UK's decision to lift a travel advice for the southern part of South Sinai governorate, noting that this will contribute to increasing the tourist inflow from Britain, said the spokesman.