Mr President,
I wish you a very warm welcome to Brussels. Our partnership is stronger today than ever before. It keeps growing. It keeps expanding. Your presence here, as well as this first ever EU-Egypt Summit, is a case in point. Europe and Egypt share strategic interests in the stability, security, and prosperity of our people.
Mr President,
Just last week, the eyes of the world were on Sharm-El-Sheikh. I commend you for your crucial role in brokering the agreement to end the Gaza conflict. This was a moment of true leadership. It opened a new chapter for peace. The urgent priority now is to ensure that the ceasefire agreement holds and delivers immediate humanitarian relief. And the EU is ready to play its part. In the short term, we are actively working to ensure the swift and safe delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. We are preparing to launch a Palestine Donor Group. It will bring together international partners to jointly promote reforms and support to the Palestinian authority. So that the Palestinian Authority is modernized, strengthened and can deliver for the Palestinian people. We know we can count on Egypt's active support and welcome your intention to convene a reconstruction conference.
This is a pivotal moment for the entire Mediterranean. The future of our region is being rewritten before our eyes. Europe and Egypt both have a clear stake in shaping that future. Last week, the Commission adopted the Pact for the Mediterranean. We want to create a Common Mediterranean Space. A space of integration, opportunity, and exchange. And, the two of us, we are very pleased to hear your vision, Mr President, about encouraging European universities to go to Egypt. In the Pact for the Mediterranean it is already foreseen, the establishment of a network of Mediterranean universities. So the first step I done and more will follow. We want to work hand-in-hand with Egypt to turn this vision into a reality.
We are delivering on our Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership, steadily and across all six pillars. The partnership is working. Tonight, we took stock of the progress made. On the first pillar, we are intensifying our political dialogue. This summit is proof of it.
Second, we are strengthening Egypt's economic stability. We are providing Egypt with EUR 5 billion in macro-financial assistance. It was signed today. And we continue our support to social and economic reforms.
Third, we are boosting investment and trade. The EU is Egypt's largest trading partner, accounting for a quarter of your trade. Our investment conference last year secured commitments worth EUR 49 billion – that is impressive. On energy, we are supporting Egypt's ambition to become a regional renewables hub. We have all the necessary ingredients for it. And we have a flagship project in the making, the T-MED and its Investment Platform. It aims to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy, clean technologies and industrial cooperation between the EU and Southern Neighbourhood partners. Egypt plays a strong role in this T-MED Investment Platform. We are also expanding our collaboration in the digital sphere. And we are opening Europe's AI factories to Egyptian start-ups so they can train and test their models on European supercomputers and use the whole computational power of the European Union. All of this and much more is Mediterranean cooperation in action.
The fourth pillar is on migration. Egypt has shown remarkable generosity and leadership in hosting millions of migrants and refugees. Our cooperation on migration covers all key areas. It is underpinned by EUR 200 million of EU support for the next two years. We will work together to fight smugglers and traffickers. But we are at the same time, and that is very important for us, heading towards the second roundtable of the Talent Partnership initiative. We want to enhance legal migration. We will discuss this further during our next Migration Dialogue by mid-2026.
The fifth pillar of our partnership focuses on security. I welcome your very strong efforts in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The last and most important pillar of our partnership is about people – their talents, their skills, their ideas. Egypt's association to Horizon Europe is great news. Today, the signing was as very special moment.
President Al-Sisi,
Thank you again for our excellent exchange today. Our partnership is on an outstanding track. We are delivering for our people and for our shared Mediterranean home. Thank you very much for hosting us, and I am also very much looking forward to the next EU-Egypt Summit in Egypt.
