Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Moment of Truth.. Pressing Issues During G7 Summit in Presence of Sisi


Sun 25 Aug 2019 | 11:46 AM
opinion .

"North and East" is the precise description of the Egyptian action strategy at the international level. Less than two months ago, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attended (G20) summit in the far east of Japan among the world's leading emerging economies.

Today, the president is participating in G7 summit in the north. This summit, held in the French city of Biarritz, has the largest economies in the world, which include France, Germany, Italy, Britain, the United States of America, Japan, and Canada. This confirms that the Egyptian action strategy is not limited by geography or history, but it is governed by the conscience of Egypt, Its vision, independent decision and the increasing confidence in its capabilities, movement and choices as a leading country in its Arab environment or as a role model for its African continent .

The G7 states, that invited the president to participate in the summit, represent 39% of the world economy and contribute with more than 60% to world trade.

This time, the summit has a very special nature that requires the global public opinion to pay attention to it carefully. Everyone is waiting for "creative" practical solutions to the crises that are shaking the world, such as the issue of climate change especially following the collapses that hit Greenland Glacier Island in Denmark in addition to the massive Amazon forest fires that imposed themselves as a major issue on the agenda on the first day of the summit.

Amazon forest fires represent an environmental catastrophe as Amazon forests are called the lungs of the Earth, as they provide 20% of oxygen required for human life. so these fires are considered an international crisis, which led the French President to call world leaders to discuss this emergency file during the summit despite Trump's position on this issue and his announcement of Washington's withdrawal from Paris Climate Agreement in 2017.

Trump said that it is "unfair to the United States", and that the agreement "does not concern with the climate, but with the development of financial resources of some countries in addition to his fiery remarks against the agreement, calling it "unfair, ineffective and very costly" as well as his rejection of  the plans of the efforts seeking to confront climate change confirming that:” "they won't make the world cleaner.”

The environmental disaster will top the agenda during the dinner, which will be attended by French and US presidents Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Italian PM Giuseppe Conte, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.

The summit will tackle topics that require creative solutions, in my point of view, such as international security, combating terrorism and extremism, confronting the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, and the complexities of the new global economic and financial system!

Because the industrialized countries emphasize the file of investments in Africa, while Egypt is the main gateway to the African continent , the Egyptian participation in this summit is important for three reasons: First, because Africa is the largest continent after Asia with an area of 30.3 million square kilometers and is a global larger commercial market with one and a half billion people.

The second reason is that Egypt's participation represents a great opportunity to see all the developments that take place in the world economy upon the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron. It is an opportunity to brief these countries on Egypt's unique experience in economic reform.

The third reason for the importance of Egyptian participation is related to the personality of President Sisi who has become one of the influential leaders in global politics. He will not only attend the summit, but as usual he will have meetings with a number of leaders, presidents and officials, to exchange advice and opinions and discuss regional and international issues of common interest in addition to the bilateral relations embodied in the telephone call between Macron and Sisi, who stressed the importance Egypt attaches to relations with France, beside maximizing coordination and consultation on various regional and international issues of common concern in order to confront the challenges facing the summit, especially the current crises in the Middle East as well as enhancing the distinguished bilateral cooperation at various levels in the light of the friendly relations and strong partnership between the two countries.

Observers expect that the summit will not be free of political maneuvers such as President Trump's attempt to exploit Johnson to gain features at the expense of the European Union. They also anticipate that the maneuvers will extend during the discussions that will address countering the use of the Internet for terrorism purposes, violent extremism, the internal crisis of Sahel region, and the need to confront human trafficking and illegal immigration organizations that are driving families to death.

I am following this summit closely to get an answer to that question: Will this summit succeed in making use of the imagination and dream of the creative presidents to overcome the maneuvers of major countries in the north and east and alleviate the painful reality in the south, east and west?