Strengthening Italian-Egyptian relations. The Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, is on a two-day mission to Cairo to take part in a series of bilateral and business meetings in the context of Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa initiatives. Flanked by a slate of representatives from Italy’s leading companies, he set out to push forth the Italian government’s efforts to bolster political and economic relations with Egypt.
- Minister Urso met the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, Ahmed Samir, to discuss industrial cooperation and Italian support for Egyptian SMEs. They zeroed in on four industrial districts identified during the visit of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on 17 March.
- He also saw the Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker, and the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Mollain, to discuss the development and connection of the Italian and Egyptian energy networks.
Frontier tech, too. The visit wasn’t just about the core issues of Italian-Egyptian cooperation. Broached topics included such as artificial intelligence and space collaboration, with Rome and Cairo looking to promote mutual cooperation. To that end, Minister Urso agreed with the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, to establish an AI Centre in Cairo, with the aim of involving Africa in the global race to develop the technology.
- The project is aimed at promoting the development and application of AI across Africa, providing training and support to African nations in this rapidly evolving field.
- It will also facilitate partnerships between research institutions and companies in both Egypt and Italy.
Don’t forget to look up. The Italian Space Agency and the recently-created Egyptian Space Agency signed today a Memorandum of Understanding to create the conditions for key cooperation in space science and technology between universities, research institutes and companies in the two countries.
- Other areas of cooperation will include Earth observation and remote sensing, space applications, and capacity-building projects.
- Earth observation, particularly in relation to monitoring the impact of climate change on the Egyptian economy, will be an important area of potential cooperation.
All about the Mattei Plan. The Italian government’s signature foreign policy project encompasses a series of ambitious projects. Italy is seeking to reinforce its role as a Mediterranean energy hub, promoting electricity and gas interconnections, including with Egypt. Furthermore, there is a strong focus on cooperation in the areas of connectivity and submarine data cables.
- Egypt hosts 90% of the East/West data cables, which connect the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, and it is investing heavily in network expansion, making it a strategic partner for Italy in the digital economy.
- “Italy and Egypt are both at the heart of the Mediterranean and at the crossroads of three continents: Europe, Africa and Asia. Italy, with its ports, energy infrastructure and cable links sees Egypt as a key partner in the development of the entire region,” remarked Minister Urso.
Image: @adolfo_urso on X
