During the month of November 2020, Ambassador Dr. Ezzat Saad – Director of ECFA- participated in the following activities:
(1) Participating in the celebration of the Supreme Council for Culture on Egyptian-Russian relations, as a representative for the Foreign Ministry:
The celebration took place on November 11, 2020 at the headquarters of the Supreme Council of Culture, as ECFA Director delivered a speech in which he affirmed that since the June 30, 2013 Revolution, relations between the two countries are going through a new phase towards further cooperation in various fields, after they were in certain periods of history limited to the field of military cooperation, as Russia has become an strategic partner for Egypt indispensable in preserving the region’s security and stability and settling its problems. Among the outcomes of cultural cooperation and exchange in the past was the establishment of an Academy of Arts in Egypt and the laying of the scientific and artistic foundations for the national troupes of folklore, the symphony orchestra, the Conservatoire, the ballet institute, and the creation of the first of its kind Egyptian ballet companies in the Arab region and Africa, and the Russian theater was one of the most influential theaters in Egypt in terms of realism.
However, this momentum no longer exists today, despite the presence of hundreds of scholarships for Egyptian students which do not meet the aspirations of both sides. Hence, Ambassador Saad called for seizing the occasion of the Year of Culture between the two countries 2021 to formulate a comprehensive plan in order to revive the Egyptian-Russian cultural cooperation in all its forms, in a manner that would serve as a tool for rapprochement and acquaintance between the two peoples who are bound by strong historical bonds of friendship.