On the occasion of the 70^th anniversary, commemorating the commencement of diplomatic relations between the two sides, a Conference was held in cooperation between Embassy of Indonesia in Cairo and the Al-Hiwar Centre for Political and Media Studies, on “Egypt and Indonesia – A Vision for the Future”, with the participation of H.E. Mr. Hilmi Fawzi, Ambassador of Indonesia to Cairo; H.E. Mr. Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesia’s former Foreign Minister and Director of SETARA Institute for Democracy and Peace (an Indonesia-based NGO); Prof. Dr. Sri Adiningsih, Chairwoman of the Presidential Advisory Council of the Republic of Indonesia; Mr. Cedrato Danciprato, Member of Indonesia’s Presidential Advisory Council and Spokesman of the Indonesian Consultative   Council; Sir Azyumardi Azra, Professor of History and former Rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta; in addition to a number of parliamentarians and representatives from Al-Azhar Al-Sharif as well as academics. The conference was held in two sessions; the first addressed the theme of “Egypt and Indonesia, Strategic Cooperation in face of Challenges”, and the second dealt with the theme “Cultural Relations and their Impact on Political and Economic Aspects”.

During the Conference, it was emphasized that this event is important, being an opportunity to exchange views on common interests in all fields that bring countries together, those fields which have witnessed a great momentum following the visit by President El-Sisi to Jakarta in September 2015.

During the second session, which was Chaired by His Excellency, Ambassador Saad noted the importance of enhancing cultural, scientific and technical cooperation which is inseparable from political cooperation or political relations among States, any States. In the case of Egypt-Indonesia Relations, in particular, such relations derive their value and strength from the history of these relations as well as from cultural and civilizational commonalities that are common to the two countries.

Moreover, cooperation in fighting terrorism and promoting religious tolerance is as highly cultural as it is also political, especially if we take into account the fact that adopting a security approach alone in face of the phenomenon of terrorism is not only insufficient, but also requires concurrently adopting another approach related to culture, concepts and religious discourse… etc.

Regarding bilateral cooperation between the two countries under El-Sisi Presidency, he stressed that Egypt’s political leadership attaches great importance to strengthening cooperation with Indonesia at all the levels, including at the cultural level. This is reflected in the signing by the two countries of four Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) among Egyptian and Indonesian Universities during 2017, in addition increasing the number of scholarships awarded by Al-Azhar University to Indonesian Students from 20 to 100 scholarships annually, as an outcome of the visit by Grand Emam of Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmad Et-Tayyeb to Indonesia, on 21-26 February 2017.