G7 Summit, France

First Day Events:

El-Sisi Arrives in Biarritz for G7 Summit

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Biarritz, France, to participate in the G7 Summit, at the invitation of French President, Emmanuel Macron.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency said that this year the G7 summit will focus on a multitude of issues. Such issues address international security situation; the fight against terrorism and extremism; combating the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes; and ways to counter human trafficking and illegal migration. This is in addition to the fight against inequality; women empowerment, notably in Africa; as well as environment, climate and biodiversity issues. Also on the summit's agenda is the development of the world economic and financial systems.

The Spokesman added that El-Sisi, In his capacity as chairman of the African Union, is expected to deliver a speech during the G7 Summit. The President will outline Africa's vision on ways to achieve peace and sustainable development and to reinforce the foundations of a fair partnership between Africa and G7 countries within a framework of common and mutual interests. On the sidelines of the G7 summit, the President will also meet with a number of world leaders to discuss bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments of mutual interest.

El-Sisi Receives Italian PM in Biarritz

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Wednesday evening, the Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Biarritz, France (24 - 26 August).
The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency said that the President praised the distinguished relations between the two countries in the various political and economic fields, coordination and cooperation aimed to address many challenges in the Mediterranean region. His Excellency stressed the importance Egypt attaches to enhancing the various joint cooperation aspects between Egypt and Italy and coordination and consultation on regional issues of common interest.
The Italian Prime Minister expressed his country's keenness to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries at various levels, in light of the positive economic developments witnessed by Egypt during the recent period. He also expressed his country’s eagerness to continue consultations on the latest regional situation, in light of Egypt's efforts in combating terrorism and enhancing security and stability in the Middle East.
The meeting also touched on the joint cooperation between the two sides regarding the ongoing investigations into the death of the Italian student Giulio Regeni. The President reiterated that the concerned parties should continue their efforts to uncover the circumstances of the case so as to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The Spokesman said that the two sides reviewed ways of developing economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries, especially in light of the opportunities offered by the development projects being implemented in Egypt.
The meeting also touched on a number of regional and international issues, including efforts to combat terrorism and illegal immigration, as well as the latest developments in Libya. The President affirmed in this regard the Egyptian position that is based on reaching a political settlement in Libya that guarantees the preservation of Libya's unity and territorial integrity and prevents foreign interference in Libya. It is also based on supporting the role of the national state institutions, especially the national army, which is fighting terrorism and armed militias, in order to meet the aspirations of the brotherly Libyan people that are represented in restoring stability and security.

Second Day Events:

El-Sisi Receives Some Presidents Upon His Visit to France

During his residence, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, President of Senegal Macky Sall, President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, President of Burkina Faso Roch Kaboré and President of the African Commission Moussa Fakih. This is during a luncheon attended by President El-Sisi as Chairman of the African Union, and in coordination of African positions during the summit of the Group of Seven and Africa, held in "Biarritz" from 24 to 26 August.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that President El-Sisi made it clear, during the meeting, that he aims to hold coordination and consultation before the beginning of the summit and to agree on the general messages that will be delivered, so that the participating African countries would speak with one voice and work in harmony to convey a strong message on the challenges facing the continent and ways to address them, and the expression of the common positions of the African continent during the various events and meetings, some of which will be raised in Egypt's opening speech on behalf of the continent.

President El-Sisi stressed the importance of emphasizing the essence of the relationship between the continent and its international partners as it is a partnership based on promoting equality and achieving the common interests of both sides, pointing out the importance of highlighting the development priorities of African countries before the partners, including eradicating poverty, addressing climate change, combating endemic diseases, employing youth, empowering women and other issues, as well as focusing on the relationship between achieving development and maintaining security and stability, together with focusing on the goals included in the African Development Agenda 2063.

The Spokesman added that the Presidents of Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Burkina Faso expressed their appreciation for President El-Sisi’s initiative to hold this meeting for coordinating African positions during the Biarritz Summit, praising Egypt’s effective chairmanship of the African Union this year, stressing the importance of enhancing continental integration and making endeavors to liberalize intra-trade through making the African-Continental Free Trade Agreement enter into force on May 30, 2019 and launching the executive steps of the agreement during the Extraordinary African Union Summit in Niamey on July 7, 2019.

El-Sisi’s Speech during Session on G7 Partnership with Africa

El-Sisi’s Speech during Session on G7 Partnership with Africa:

Your Excellency, President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron,
Heads and Leaders of States and Governments,
Heads of International Organizations and Institutions,
Thanks to the kind invitation extended by the President of the French Republic, it is my pleasure to participate, on behalf of the African Union (AU), in the activities of the G7 Summit, to convey the aspirations of the peoples of our continent. They seek to achieve peace and sustainable development and establish interregional just and sustained partnership between us, based on the principle of common interest and established on previous endeavors in this regard.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
We all know the gravity of the challenges facing the developing states, including the African ones in their endeavor to improve the standard of living of their peoples and achieve sustainable development, besides the obstacles, represented in the accelerated and interconnected events of the international and regional crises to achieve these goals. There is no alternative to our continued inter-dialogue and being engaged in dealing with these crises, in line with common and reciprocal interests, as well as with the rules of democracy that should prevail in international relations.

In this respect, we do not need to review the challenges facing our African continent in detail; however, we need to co-work to seek solutions according to the priorities of the countries of the continent. Our co-work should be based on the long-standing relationship between the achievement of development in all dimensions on the one hand, and maintenance of security and stability on the other hand.

As the foregoing crises constitute the general perspective of the challenges facing our continent, the situation in Libya is grave and serious; thus, it should be addressed.

Due to the threat posed by terrorist organizations and the security liquidity manifested in the proliferation of armed militias, the impact of the exacerbated situation in Libya, not only on the security and stability of its citizens, but also on neighboring countries, requires mobilizing the international efforts to put an end to such crisis and threat, along with ensuring and preserving the safety, abilities and resources of the brotherly Libyan people.

The way out of the crisis in Libya is well known; it only takes a political will and sincerity to begin a comprehensive political settlement process, addressing all aspects of the crisis, The solution should be topped by restoring stability, eliminating terrorism and militia chaos, ending foreign interferences, ensuring justice and transparency in distribution and spending of state resources, and completing unity of the Libyan institutions as provided for in the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA).

In this regard, the development of Africa must be based on a collective will that targets settling the continent's crises and countering terrorism in all its forms for its destructive impacts on all levels, especially on the development efforts. Thus, this necessitates a genuine accountability of those who fund and support it and preservation of the state of nation and its institutions. This will contribute to achieving security and stability, and saving young people from extremism and illegal migration. Thus, we can focus on establishing effective mechanisms to overcome poverty, reduce unemployment, control endemic diseases and combat climate change.

Those challenges make incumbent upon us to cooperate for facing them. Our African countries own promising opportunities and various capabilities that qualify it to be a trustful partner for the international community. We have a big market, major human resources and other attractive elements, most important of which is mainly the efforts of developing the African infrastructure through implementing the continental and energy projects in all its forms. This aims at achieving a regional and continental integration, besides the endeavors of liberation of the intra-continental trade through activating the African Continental Free Trade Area and the steps of enhancing the economic role of the private sector.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our dealing with bases of the sustainable development won’t be integrated without tackling the priorities and continent’s efforts to achieve gender equity and empowering of women, believing in the African women’s ability to boost our development. In spite of what had been achieved in this domain, the aspired-for outcomes won’t be achieved without providing the proper environment through supply of finance and access to the markets and modern technology in a way that helps in launching the African women’s capabilities through education and capacity-building.

To complete the efforts exerted to empower women, digitization is considered one of the economic catalysts together with the establishment of varied and competitive economies and creation of modern societies that support knowledge and innovation and attract investments.

Thus, we seek support of our partners of the Group and international finance institutions to enhance the continent’s capabilities in this field to reach creative solutions for our challenges mainly unemployment, especially in light of the continuous increase in the number of young people joining the job market annually.

I don’t miss the opportunity to mention the importance of fighting corruption on the global level because this phenomenon leads to the depletion of resources and waste of development efforts and it negatively affects economic efficiency and investment environment in general. This encouraged African leaders to exert intensive efforts to confront this problem. This was reflected in holding the “First African Anti-Corruption Forum” in Sharm El Sheikh in June 2019. During this forum, a number of related recommendations were adopted, including laying down frameworks to force the international commercial banks to refund the deposits gained from illegal practices to the African states through applying practical and real practices instead of taking procedures and pledges that cannot be fulfilled.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
As the continent agreed to lay down a general framework to achieve its development, I reconfirm the principle of finding African solutions to the African problems and vitality of boosting the structure of the continental peace and security, making the best use of this opportunity to highlight the major importance of Sahel and Sahara area and its available resources and opportunities in addition to the challenges it faces. So, I call upon the international community to support all efforts exerted by the Sahel and Sahara states whether on the national level or by the African Union through a comprehensive approach that deals with all political, security and development challenges of this area and settle radically their reasons.

In conclusion, out of the joint interests between our continent and your Group, I am looking forward to reaching tangible results and reflecting our agreed upon-vision to our renewed partnership in a way that integrates with the efforts of other frameworks binding us. This will be made by taking serious steps consistent with our national plans and Agenda 2063 that bears the continent’s vision to achieve its sustainable development in a way that correlates with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and get rid of any ideas that may produce unbearable additional burdens or set political conditions.

Thank you

El-Sisi Meets German Chancellor on the Sidelines of G7 Summit

El-Sisi met on Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Biarritz, France.

President El-Sisi expressed Egypt's appreciation for the ongoing positive progress in Egyptian-German relations and for the mutual commitment to further advancing ties across all areas for the benefit of the two countries and their peoples.

The President emphasized Egypt's commitment to fostering closer cooperation and to enhancing political consultations between the two countries on various regional and international issues, in light of Egypt's current chairmanship of the African Union and Germany's membership of the Security Council.

German Chancellor Merkel lauded the solid relations and bonds that Egypt and Germany share and appreciated the great momentum that the two countries' relations have gained recently, notably in economic and trade areas.

Chancellor Merkel reiterated that Egypt is considered one of Germany's key partners in the Middle East.
The German Chancellor confirmed her country's keenness on holding intensive coordination with Egypt on regional and international political issues, underscoring Egypt's position as a cornerstone for security and stability in the Middle East, Africa and the Mediterranean region.

The meeting discussed ways to strengthen frameworks of trilateral cooperation between Egypt and Germany in Africa, in light of Egypt's current chairmanship of the African Union and the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA), which was initiated under the German G20 Presidency in 2017 during their annual meetings in Berlin.

The talks also touched on a multitude of regional and international issues and dossiers including means to enhance counter-terrorism efforts and combat illegal migration. The discussions also focused on political developments in a number of countries in the region, notably the Libyan issue. President El-Sisi and Chancellor Merkel exchanged views on ways to achieve a peaceful settlement and to fight terrorism in Libya.

Third Day Events:

El-Sisi, Trump Meet on Sidelines of G7 Summit in France

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that President El-Sisi stressed, during the meeting, the strong and deep strategic relationship between Egypt and the United States, praising the development of these relations under Trump’s administration. El-Sisi also highlighted Egypt's keenness to continue enhancing joint cooperation in all fields and making coordination and consultation with the US administration on ways to consolidate peace and stability in the Middle East region, in light of the multiple crises facing the region.

For his part, the US President expressed his appreciation to Egypt and President El-Sisi and the security and stability achieved by Egypt under his leadership as well as continuous developments in spite of the unstable regional environment and the huge challenges posed consequently.

President Trump also stressed the strategic Egyptian-American relations and that the US looks forward to further developing bilateral cooperation at all levels, pointing out Egypt's success in implementing the economic reform program and advancing comprehensive development process, confirming his desire to increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries and promote joint investments.

The US President applauded the strategic coordination and consultation between the two countries, noting the Egypt’s key role in the Middle East and its support for efforts to combat terrorism and extremism and establish peace and stability in the region.

The meeting touched on the issue of counter-terrorism. President Trump expressed his country's full support for Egypt's efforts in this regard. He lauded Egypt's efforts to reinforce the principles and values of tolerance and freedom of worship in Egypt. In this respect, President El-Sisi confirmed the importance of concerted efforts made by the international community to curb the threats of terrorism and to prevent terrorist organizations from receiving finances, arms, or recruits.

The two presidents also discussed regional and international developments, including the Palestinian cause. President El-Sisi confirmed Egypt's support for all sincere efforts that seek to find a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause based on international references and resolutions so as to restore stability and open new horizons all peoples in the region would benefit from.

The two presidents agreed on the importance of reaching political solutions to the crises in Libya and Syria. President El-Sisi confirmed that backing the national institutions shall contribute to preserving the unity of countries that suffer from crises and ending the humanitarian plight of the peoples during the recent years.

El-Sisi Meets British PM on Sidelines of G7 Summit

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency said that they agreed to further enhance bilateral ties and cooperation frameworks, especially at the economic, political, security and tourism levels. This is in addition to continuing political coordination on issues and challenges posed against the region.

The British Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for Egypt's active participation in the G7 Summit meetings, in light of its chairmanship of the AU this year. He confirmed his government's determination to elevate cooperation with Egypt, particularly at the economic, developmental and social levels. He praised the economic progress that Egypt has made and expressed his appreciation for its efforts to realize peace, stability and security in the Middle East.

The Spokesman added that the meeting touched on regional and international issues, including counter-terrorism efforts.
President El-Sisi confirmed the need to increase the international community's efforts to confront terrorism through a comprehensive approach that includes measures that would prevent funding terrorists and supplying them with arms, recruits and political cover. This is in addition to spreading moderate religious discourse.

Both sides agreed on the importance of exerting utmost efforts to arrive at comprehensive political settlements that address the root causes of the crises in the Middle East so as to pave the way for peace and development.

El-Sisi’s Speech during G7 Climate Summit

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Following is the text of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s speech at the working session on Climate, Biodiversity and Oceans at the G7 Summit in France.

"Ladies and Gentlemen,
Environmental issues and their challenges are among our major daily concerns, affecting all aspects in our life. Our political approach towards addressing these issues reflects a mutual interest and a moral commitment to our planet as they are an integral part of the sustainable development system we aspire to have.
Undoubtedly, climate change is one of the most serious environmental issues that threaten us directly. So, our ambitions and commitments should be nurtured to address climate change with safe fulfillment of our commitments.

Unfortunately, Africa remains the most affected by the effects of this phenomenon although its greenhouse gas emissions account for only a non-significant part of the total global emissions. In this context, I would like to emphasize two main points:

First, we must uphold the principle of “shared responsibility but different burdens” in our approach to address climate change and balance between emissions reduction efforts and adaptation efforts of climate change effects, respecting national measures.

Second, we must provide sustainable and appropriate funding for developing countries to face this phenomenon; such fund still fails to meet the needs. We must also provide means of implementation, including technology and capacity building while ensuring that no additional burdens are imposed on our African countries, which increases the risk of high-level indebtedness.

Egypt spared no effort during its chairmanship of the G77 and China, and the African Group of Climate Change to ensure the success of activating the Paris Accord on Climate Change. Egypt is also to jointly chair the adaptability and resilience alliance with the UK in the UN Secretary General's Summit on Climate Change next month. We look forward to yielding practical steps that contribute to the international effort for mobilizing climate finance, and it will be added to previous pledges.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to announce, in this forum, Egypt's accession to the Metz Charter, believing in the need to preserve biodiversity as an essential element for achieving sustainable development, which is consistent with Egypt's initiative during its hosting of the fourteenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Sharm el-Sheikh last November. This agreement aims to promote harmony among the three Rio Conventions on Climate Change, Desertification and Biodiversity and to develop an integrated approach to address biodiversity loss, negative impacts of climate change, and land degradation. We hope that the initiative would receive the support of the group countries.

Finally, I would like to mention the importance of oceans for our mother continent, Africa, the coasts of which overlook two oceans, and the need to strengthen the legal framework which prohibits their pollution from various sources, especially plastic wastes through raising the necessary awareness, adopting the relevant national and international legislation, strengthening the mechanisms for their implementation, and cooperating in the transfer of technology necessary for our countries to meet this challenge, as well as adopting alternative technologies for non-biodegradable waste in order to take procedures and steps that enhance international cooperation and exchange of experiences to deal with this serious phenomenon.

El-Sisi Meets His French Counterpart on Sidelines of G7 Summit

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that President El-Sisi thanked the French President for the warm reception and kind hospitality during his participation in the G7 Summit, praising the strong and distinguished historical Egyptian-French relations.

For his part, the French President welcomed President El-Sisi, commending his participation in the summit, as well as the bilateral relations and the civilizational and cultural ties binding the friendly Egyptian and French peoples.

The French president also expressed France's keenness to strengthen mechanisms of joint cooperation and further develop bilateral relations, consultation and coordination on political issues of common concern.

The Spokesman added that the meeting addressed ways of boosting bilateral relations, especially on the economic level. The meeting also reviewed African-French relations in light of Egypt's chairmanship of the African Union and the developments in regional crises and international issues, including efforts to revive the Middle East peace process and combat terrorism, extremism and illegal immigration.

They also exchanged views on developments in Libya, where the two presidents agreed on concerted bilateral joint efforts between Egypt and France and international efforts to settle the situation in Libya in a way that contributes to the elimination of terrorism, preserves the state institutions and its resources, and limits the external interventions.