President Milanović Holds Talks with Egyptian President el-Sisi on Cooperation in Tourism and Defence Industry
The President of the Republic of Croatia Zoran MIlanović and his wife Sanja Musić Milanović are paying an Official visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Following the official welcoming ceremony in front of the Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo, a tête-à-tête was held between the two Presidents as well as a bilateral meeting of the delegations of the Republic of Croatia and the Arab Republiy of Egypt.
In his statement after the meeting President Milanović highlighted tourism, the defence industry and investments in Croatia as possible areas of cooperation between Croatia and Egypt. “Tourism is a sector in which Croatia, thanks to a set of circumstances, natural assets, great efforts, energy and capital, attained an enviable global level therefore we can objectively be considered a tourism giant. We have the experience that we and our experts are ready and willing to share with others. To see in what directions development is heading, where the state can make good money and where people can have good paying and quality jobs yet not be engulfed in the massive numbers of tourists and everything that goes with large numbers of people who find themselves in a short time in a limited space. These are important issues for the quality of life and environmental conservation”, President Milanović noted.
Moreover, the President mentioned the defence industry and stated that Croatia has certain knowledge and products that are the result of Croatian brainpower and are competitive on the global market. “Here we quickly found a common language and I will do everything on my part to deepen this cooperation and where it doesn’t exist, to start it”, he said.
President Milanović also mentioned Croatia’s geographic position saying that Croatia is a member of NATO and the European Union, but that it is also literally, legally and figuratively speaking an open southern port of the European Union. “One of the larger ports. Here I refer first of all to Rijeka and Ploče – an entry for goods, products and investments on the territory of the European Union. This is a position where Croatia is and should use more to its advantage and for the welfare of those who wish to invest. Egypt is more than welcome”, President Milanović noted.
“Egyptian challenges are huge, this is a vast country that more than ten years ago experienced something we in Europe naively, excitedly and joyfully at first called the ‘Arab Spring’. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the spring except that it occurred during that season, and the aftermath was a heavy death toll, destruction of poverty and missed opportunities for several Middle East states that were nearly destroyed. Egypt managed to resist. It is important for such a large state to be stable both for the Mediterranean and the entire world, I would say. I’m not here to make an assessment but to try to pave the way for cooperation and better understanding for mutual, financial benefit”, President Milanović said in concluding his statement. President Milanović invited the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to pay an Official visit to Croatia.
Egyptian President el-Sisi congratulated the Republic of Croatia on entering the Schengen Area and the euro area assessing it as the pinnacle of its success in the sense of integration in European Union institutions.
Furthermore, he expressed gratitude to Croatia and its political stance in as he noted “key issues for Egypt”. “During our talks we stressed the importance of commitment to the promotion of economic cooperation and increasing trade between the two countries that at present do not correspond to the level of political relations between the two sides. Especially after Croatia become one of the more important, southern gateways to the European Union, which can contribute to increase trade and energy security in South and Central Europe”, the Egyptian President stated.
Egyptian President el-Sisi stated that he discussed with President Milanović Egypt’s progress in the area of energy production, which includes new gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean and improvement of renewable energy sources such as the Benban Solar Park.
“We discussed cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector and encouraging Croatian companies to work and invest in Egypt in that sector. The Croatian side was invited to invest in our industry because it will be a gateway to the Arab market”, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said among others.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas