Shoukry met with Lord Ahmad — the British minister for South Asia, North Africa, the UN, and the Commonwealth at the Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office (FCDO) — on Monday during his visit to London.

During the meeting, the two diplomats asserted that the council will also contribute to enhancing British investments in Egypt and trade exchange between the two countries, in addition to exploring further bilateral cooperation opportunities, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Hafez said.

The two ministers also discussed the repercussions of the current global economic crisis and means of cooperation to mitigate its effect.

Furthermore, the meeting covered the upcoming International Ministerial Conference on the Freedom of Religion or Belief, which is to be held in London from 5 to 6 July.

In this regard, Shoukry asserted Egypt’s effective participation in the conference, pointing to Egypt’s achievements and efforts to enhance freedom of belief.

Moreover, he highlighted Egypt’s keenness to uphold the principles of citizenship, equality, and non-discrimination between citizens on any basis. 

The two sides also reviewed their concerns about the situation of human rights as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest, including the situation in Libya, the statement said.

Finally, they reviewed the readiness for Egypt’s hosting of the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh this November, affirming the need to continue coordination between the Egyptian and British presidencies of the climate conference to ensure the success of the COP27.

Egypt has repeatedly highlighted ambitions to build on the outcomes of COP26 held in Glasgow last November and support global efforts in mitigation and adapting to climate change during COP27 by turning climate pledges into actions.