Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Dr. Badr Abdel-Aty, Egyptian Ambassador to Brussels, presided over the meeting of the ambassadors of the COMESA countries, in light of the Egyptian presidency of the assembly since November 2021. The head of the COMESA office and the head of the African Union office in Brussels participated in the meeting, in addition to ambassadors and representatives of the COMESA member states. Dr. Abdel-Aty gave a briefing on the results of the twenty-first summit of COMESA heads of state and government hosted by Cairo in November 2021, as it was the first summit to be held for the assembly after a three-year hiatus, highlighting that Egypt assumed the presidency of COMESA on 11/23/2021 under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic. This is the second time that Egypt assumes the presidency of this important economic gathering, as the first time was during 2001 and 2002.
Abdel Aty added that the President launched during the summit the COMESA medium-term action plan for the period from 2021 to 2025, which aims to deepen economic and regional integration among member states, in line with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. He also made it clear that among the priorities of the Egyptian presidency is working to achieve regional economic integration by removing barriers to regional trade, promoting integration in the industrial sector, as well as developing infrastructure, especially transportation, energy, communications and information technology, encouraging the flow of investments in the region, and promoting regional integration in The health sector, and creating a business environment that stimulates digital transformation and financial inclusion to support small and medium enterprises.
The participants praised the Egyptian efforts to support African economic integration and initiatives to develop green economies in the region to mitigate the impact of climate change. They also congratulated Egypt for hosting the COP27 conference on behalf of the African continent. On the other hand, they reviewed the ongoing preparations for holding the 22nd COMESA summit in Zambia next June, which will witness the handover of the presidency from Egypt to Zambia.