EU Ready to Contribute to Egypt’s Own Manufacturing Capacity: Comm.

On Monday, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Mr. Oliver Várhelyi, held a meeting with, Nasser Kamel, Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), to discuss preparations for the upcoming UfM Regional Forum & EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial.

They also touched on the implementation of the new Agenda for the Mediterranean and its Economic & Investment Plan.

Várhelyi, during his meeting with the Egyptian Minister of Health, Dr Hala Zayed in Cairo, discussed the EU support in the fight against COVID-19.

“We stand by Egypt, by providing €200m of assistance to healthcare sector & economy and by sharing around 11m of vaccine doses, with more to come,” he said.

He confirmed, “We are ready to contribute to Egypt’s own manufacturing capacity in view of becoming a regional hub. We look forward to having Egypt join EU Digital COVID Certificate soon, to facilitate travel & moving around safely. This would boost tourism industry & help healthcare sector.”

The duo also discussed common work against the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have not only mobilized €200 million for the healthcare sector but also continued to help the economy to stay afloat by financing SMEs, reducing poverty, providing decent employment opportunities, water management and so on,” he noted.

“Finally, we touched upon the COVID certificates. We have the EU digital COVID certificate scheme in place that is being used by over 40 countries around the world and proves to be the tool for people to move around easier than without it.”