The Presidency
Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi participated in a dinner banquet with His Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and the Minister of International Development, in the presence of senior executives of Norwegian companies and economic and investment funds, as part of the President’s state visit to Norway. The President delivered a speech during the dinner. Following is the text :
” In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Benevolent”
Your Highness, Crown Prince Haakon,
Ms. Anne Beathe, Minister of International Development of Norway,
Esteemed heads of companies and investment funds,
Honorable guests,
At the outset, I would like to express my pleasure to visit your friendly country and my appreciation for the warm welcome and hospitality shown to me and my accompanying delegation. I would also to like to note the fruitful discussions I had today with His Majesty the King of Norway, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Parliament, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, where there was a convergence of views on the two countries’ keenness to deepen bilateral cooperation politically, economically, and culturally.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Egyptian government has adopted an ambitious plan to improve the investment climate and strengthen the role of the private sector in driving economic development. This is being implemented through providing incentives and facilitations for foreign investors and removing any obstacles they may face.
Throughout all my meetings, I emphasized the importance of enhancing economic and investment cooperation between our two countries.
I highlighted the great importance the Egyptian government attaches to attracting foreign direct investment to the Egyptian market, which offers numerous opportunities across various vital sectors of mutual interest, such as energy including traditional, new, renewable, and green sources, transport, infrastructure, industry, agriculture, and information and communications technology, in line with the ambitious plans and goals to maximize the benefits from Egypt’s unique and strategic geographic location.
From this standpoint, I invite all Norwegian companies and investment funds to augment their presence in the Egyptian market and to build on the existing successes of cooperation between several major Norwegian companies and the Egyptian side.
Our meeting today represents a valuable opportunity to better understand your vision for increasing Norwegian investments in Egypt and to take practical steps towards realizing this goal.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the Norwegian side for organizing this meeting, which shall contribute to further deepening Egyptian-Norwegian relations at all levels. I would also like to express my gratitude to His Highness the Crown Prince of Norway for his attendance, which demonstrates our countries’ keenness to further elevate relations that we highly value.
Thank you very much, and I look forward to listening to your views. Again, I thank you all and I wish you all a Merry Christmas.
