Belt and Road Initiative

"Your Excellencies Heads of States and Governments,
Distinguished Attendees,
First, I would like to sincerely thank President Xi Jinping and the friendly Chinese people for the warm welcome and generous hospitality. I would also like to congratulate you, Mr. President, on the upcoming 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, of which Egypt was the first Arab and African country to declare recognition.
My presence with you today, on my sixth visit to your friendly country during the past five years, is the best proof of the depth and solidity of the relations between two countries, represent the oldest civilizations in human history. This was manifested in the declaration of the comprehensive strategic Partnership between Egypt and China 2014 that was implemented on the ground in 2016 through an executive program. Such program aims to strengthen this partnership during the next five years and in a manner that establishes a framework governing cooperation with a partner, which fully aware of our common interests, both in the bilateral framework in various fields or at the international and regional levels in general, and in connection with the security and stability of Middle East in particular.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
My eagerness to accept the invitation of my friend, President Xi Jinping, to participate in this summit, stems from Egypt's interest in the Belt and Road Initiative, and our belief that the common denominators and challenges that unite us as member states, along with the vision on which the initiative was founded, its axes and projects, It should form the foundations of cooperation between its parties, with a view to achieving the aspirations of our peoples and the interests of our countries towards stability and development.
Consistent with the above, the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) deals with fields that come on Egypt’s priorities of 2030 Vision for comprehensive development, mainly, upgrading the infrastructure in the fields of transportation, energy, information technology, and utility linkage projects. These sectors are compatible with our development priorities in terms of stimulating economic growth and industrialization, promoting trade and economic cooperation, increasing intra-trade and financial integration and increasing communication among peoples by promoting cultural exchange.

The initiative objectives are consistent with our efforts to launch a number of megaprojects that achieve high returns and create diversified investment opportunities; foremost of which is the Suez Canal Development Center. It is an industrial, commercial and logistics center that provides promising opportunities for Chinese companies and the member states of the initiative and the various world countries, wishing to benefit from Egypt's strategic position as a center for production and re-export of products to various world countries, especially those with which we have free trade agreements, mainly the Arab region, Africa and Europe.
Simultaneously, an ambitious program of economic reform, based on a package of financial and monetary measures, is being implemented to address structural imbalances, control the public budget and provide an favorable environment for attracting foreign investments, that was reflected in the bullish boom of the overall indicators of the Egyptian economy. In addition, Egypt has developed its capacity to produce and provide energy and diversify its resources in a way that qualifies it to become a regional energy hub, especially in light of its strategic location on both sides of the Suez Canal, for storing and trading oil and gas products. Egypt is a center of freight transportation services for markets of Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our vision towards promoting cooperation and regional integration is compatible with the Belt and Road Initiative. In the Arab context, the Arab-Chinese relations have witnessed a significant breakthrough since the first Summit of the Belt and Road Initiative in May, 2017, especially after the 8th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab Cooperation in July, 2018 when the Arab-Chinese Implementing Declaration of the BRI was ratified. New proposals for electricity linkage between Arab countries and BRI member states are under consideration.

At the African level, the current Egyptian chairmanship of the African Union provides an important dimension to the Belt and Road Initiative. The Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September 2018 affirmed China's keenness to coordinate with African countries on the various issues addressed by the Summit, especially the AU Agenda 2063 and the UN Agenda 2030. All of these are dimensions converge with the priorities put forward by Egypt at the recent African Summit as axes for promoting African joint action, achieving development, peace and security in our African continent, as well as African economic integration, regional integration and upgrading the infrastructure.

Accordingly, we welcome launching new partnerships and strengthening existing partnerships within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative with China and other parties of the Initiative to contribute to the enhancement of the continent's efforts to achieve the goals of sustainable development and to improve the standard of living of African citizens. An example is implementing the Cape to Cairo Road, aiming at increasing rates of trade and inter-investment flows. Similarly, we look forward to establishing partnerships in the framework of the implementation of the Maritime Linkage Project between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean as one of infrastructure projects included in the priorities o the COMESA, as it will achieve multiple economic and trade interests with regard to linking the countries located on this shipping course.

I take this opportunity to call on funding companies and institutions within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative to contribute to such projects. As you know, the initiative and other projects’ success requires providing the necessary fund, under conditions that are compatible with the developing and least developed countries, especially in our African continent in a manner that does not add burdens over their shoulders. Therefore, this requires joint action through effective partnerships between governments, funding institutions and the private sector to ensure the necessary flows to bridge the financing gap.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
In conclusion, I would like to express my hope that this forum and its substantive discussions would be a success and would bring about concrete outcomes on which we can build on in the future in order to contribute to the initiative’s paths and projects in promoting sustainable development and building bridges of communication between us.

Thank you very much"