President Sisi Wishes New Italian PM Meloni Success in Leading Her Country to 'a Bright Future'

Ahram Online  

Saturday 1 Oct 2022

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi wished new Italian PM Giorgia Meloni “success in leading Italy toward prosperity and a bright future" in a message to congratulate the country's first-ever woman prime minister on her party's victory in the general elections last week.

“I look forward to working with her within the framework of the solid partnership between Egypt and Italy to push our bilateral relations to broader horizons in all fields, in line with the deep-rooted history and civilisations of the two countries and for the benefit of their two peoples and humanity,” El-Sisi said in a post on Saturday on the Facebook page of the spokesperson of the Egyptian presidency, Bassam Rady.

The Brothers of Italy party will lead a right - centre-right coalition government with the League and Forza Italia parties after winning first place in the snap elections on last Sunday with 26 percent of votes.

Egypt and Italy enjoy strong relationships on the political and economic levels.

Italy is one of Egypt's largest trade partners in the European Union.

In 2021, trade volume between the two countries rose by 29 percent to reach $5.8 billion, up from $4.5 billion in the previous year.

Egypt’s exports to Italy rose by 91.4 percent in 2021, bringing in nearly $2.8 billion, up from $1.5 billion in 2020.

Italian investments in Egypt also rose by 40.3 percent from $320 million during the last quarter of FY 2020/2021 to reach $448.8 million during the first quarter of FY 2021/2022.

The two countries are also members of the Cairo-based East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), which was formed in 2019 to establish a regional gas market in the eastern Mediterranean and enhance trade relations between eight member states.

In 2015, the Italian energy giant Eni helped Egypt discover the Zohr natural gas field in its Mediterranean waters, catapulting the country to becoming a major producer of the alternative energy source.