Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri visited Russia this week to attend the BRICS meeting of foreign ministers in Nizhny Novgorod where he took part in two sessions, one on cooperation between BRICS countries on international and regional issues and the second on mechanisms of cooperation with partner countries.
The BRICS group was established in June 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In January 2024 Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were admitted as full members.
Russian President Valdimir Putin said the next BRICS summit, to be held in the Russian city of Kazan between 22 and 24 October, will be dedicated to establishing a fairer world order and focus on politics and security, the economy and finance and cultural and humanitarian ties.
During his visit, Shoukri held bilateral meetings with participating foreign ministers. On Monday, Shoukri and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov held a meeting at which discussions focused on the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, the war in Ukraine, and reinforcing cooperation between the two countries. Shoukri briefed Lavrov on Egypt’s mediation efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and welcomed a Russian proposal to convene a meeting of foreign ministers from Russia and five Arab countries to address the conflict and revive the peace process.
The two diplomats also addressed the war in Ukraine and civil war in Sudan, stressing the importance of finding a resolution to the Sudanese conflict that preserves the country’s institutions.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said both ministers expressed satisfaction with positive developments in bilateral relations and highlighted progress in the implementation of the Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone and the Dabaa nuclear power plant project. Shoukri also commended Russia’s leadership as the current BRICS chair and affirmed Egypt’s interest in participating in BRICS initiatives.
Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir and Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala Al-Said also visited Russia to take part in the 27th St Petersburg International Economic Forum, with Al-Wazir attending the first meeting of the transport ministers of BRICS members convened on the sidelines of the forum.
Speaking before a roundtable held by BRICS group businessmen, Al-Wazir said “Egypt will use all of its political, economic, and commercial influence to reinforce its relationship with BRICS states” and underlined Cairo’s willingness to cooperate with BRICS countries to improve connectivity, diversify supply chains, and develop streamlined international transport routes between members.
Al-Wazir highlighted Egypt’s progress in upgrading its transport infrastructure in cooperation with major international companies and as part of the ambitious Egypt Vision 2030. “The transportation sector represents one of the basic axes of this vision and is the most important factor in the development and advancement of the country,” said Al-Wazir.
He stressed the importance of Egypt’s position at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe, the significance of the “Suez Canal, the world’s number one international waterway, to world supply chains” and outlined his ministry’s ambitious plans to turn Egypt into a regional hub for logistics and transport.
Amr Al-Samandouni, secretary-general of the Transport and Logistics Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, said the BRICS Transport Ministers’ Meeting ended with recommendation that member states work to enhance investments in land, maritime and air transport, and logistics. Al-Wazir, said Al-Samandouni, used the meeting to promote investment in four Egyptian industrial zones: Al-Sokhna in Suez, west of Al-Kantara, the technology valley in Ismailia, and the industrial city in Port Said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of International Cooperation, in collaboration with the BRICS group New Development Bank (NDB), organized a seminar under the theme Exploring New Horizons in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital on 11-12 June. The bank’s president, former Brazilian head of state Dilma Rousseff, led the seminar’s discussions.
The first such seminar to be held outside the five BRICS founding countries, it aimed to foster partnerships between Egypt and the NDB in the areas of energy, transportation, water, and communications.
Addressing the seminar on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said Egypt’s decision to join the BRICS should not be interpreted as an aggressive move against other blocs. “In fact, joining the BRICS is meant to enhance the world economic order and give more weight to the NDB. The new members have some of the world’s wealthiest sovereign funds and are major oil and gas producers,” said Madbouli.
Egypt hopes the NDB will help member states in North Africa and the Middle East implement their development agendas. “This is necessary, especially because soft-term loans have become difficult to acquire and the credit ratings of several member states have been downgraded,” the premier noted.
He added that he has high hopes the NDB will facilitate trade exchange among member states through the use of local currencies to help them overcome their foreign exchange challenges.
During the seminar, the NDB outlined support for public and private projects through loans, guarantees, capital participation, andthe provision of technical assistance.
The NDB, headquartered in Shanghai, was established in 2014 to act as one of the world’s largest multilateral banks, with a focus on financing infrastructure projects and sustainable development in BRICS member states and other emerging and developing economies. The NDB aims to allocate 40 per cent of its financing to climate-related projects and places a strong emphasis on technology transfer, knowledge sharing, and addressing food and energy security in member states. The NDP’s authorised capital stands at $100 billion. Egypt, Bangladesh, and the UAE, the newest members of the bank, joined in 2023.
“The BRICS group includes economic powerhouses like China, Russia, India, and Brazil and it was important for Egypt to join and deepen relations with these powers,” said Karim Darwish, head of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
Darwish said Shoukri’s visit to Russia this week also reflected the growing strategic partnership between Cairo and Moscow and that“Egypt and Russia have built close relations spanning military, economic, political, scientific, and cultural cooperation.”
Minister of Planning and Economic Development Al-Said told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on 7 June that the volume of Egypt’s trade exchange with BRICS countries hit nearly $25 billion in the first five months of this year.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 13 June, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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