Swiss Ambassador to Egypt Paul Garnier asserted his country's full support for Egypt in all domains, particularly in the economic and social fields. Garnier cited the Swiss companies' investments in Egypt over the past years that amounted to 1.85 billion dollars, saying the Swiss companies managed to secure more than 30,000 jobs for Egyptians.
He stressed that the coming visit scheduled to be performed by Swiss Minister of economy aims to discuss the opportunities of investments in Egypt, stressing that his country aspires to increase economic cooperation with Egypt as soon as possible.
He added that the country was keen to support the Egyptian government during the latest years, praising the Egyptian efforts during the latest period to push forward the Palestinian reconciliation. He stressed the importance of Egypt’s role on both political and diplomatic levels.
Shifting to Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisc's planned visit to Cairo in November, the diplomat said that she will lead an economic delegation for talks with Egyptian officials on boosting bilateral cooperation in the economic field.
The 40-year strategy of cooperation with Egypt includes supporting the Egyptian government programs to curb population growth, strengthening governance, shoring up small and medium-sized enterprises and backing service projects, including supplying clean drinking water to villages and solid waste management, amb. Garnier.
As for efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East region, the diplomat lauded Egypt's genuine efforts to achieve the inter-Palestinian reconciliation and to resume Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.
The celebration was attended by several ministers, including Antiquities Minister Khalid el Anani, Environment Minister Khalid Fahmy and public figures, as well as ambassadors of France, Cote d'Ivoire, Ukraine, Germany, Estonia, Macedonia and the Philippines.