Joint Seminar between ECFA and the Association of ASEAN States in Cairo

On April 24, 2024, the Council held a joint seminar with the Association of ASEAN Nations in Cairo, in order to discuss issues of common interest between the two countries, in light of efforts to strengthen relations and invest in them further. The symposium was divided into two sessions. The first is on Egypt’s relations with ASEAN countries, including political, economic and cultural aspects, and areas of future cooperation, especially issues of sustainability and relations at the grassroots level. The second session focused on international and regional issues of common interest between the two sides from the Asian perspective and from the Middle East perspective.

 Ambassador Mohammed Al-Orabi, Chairman of the Council, opened the seminar, expressing his happiness at the culmination of the joint efforts between the two countries and the role of the Council in holding this conference, which reveals the desire of both sides to consolidate relations in all fields in light of the changes that are taking place in the world order steadily, pointing to the existence of political will in this regard. He also praised the support provided by ASEAN countries to Cairo, which is the continuation of the decades-long relations between the two parties, citing the Non-Aligned Initiative. Further cooperation between the two sides is encouraged by the tremendous economic progress of the Egyptian state, and the fact that the Association is one of the most important and powerful regional groupings.

 During the opening session, Ambassador Lutfi Rauf, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia in Cairo, praised the holding of this seminar, which represents a fruitful start that pushes for more cooperation between the two sides, taking pride in the Group’s experience, which has become a successful experience that can be emulated, and pointing to a number of facts about the Association that illustrate this.

Mr. Mohamed Kassem, Coordinator of the Economic Committee of the Council and President of the Egyptian Exporters Association, opened the first session. In it, Ambassador Ahmed Shaheen, Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs, spoke about Egypt’s political relations with Southeast Asian countries steadily growing since 2015 with the visit of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to a number of countries in the region, as well as the consensus between the two sides on a number of principles such as combating terrorism and the importance of enhancing regional stability.

Mr. Ahmed Zuhair, Head of Investment Promotion DPT, addressed the economic dimension in the relations between the two sides, and touched on possible investment opportunities in Egypt and the Suez Canal Economic Zone, pointing to the Egyptian efforts in this regard, as well as the advantages that investors can enjoy and procedures in this regard. For his part, Mr. Wael Samir, Asian Department Director (ECS), reviewed a detailed statistical presentation of the exports and imports of the Association among themselves and with other countries (led by China) and with the Egyptian state. He explained that the most prominent countries of the Association importing from Egypt are Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. He pointed out that Egypt is studying the free trade agreement it received from the Association.

As for the cultural dimension, Ambassador Omar Salim, Assistant Foreign Minister for Cultural Relations, spoke about the efforts made by the Ministry in this regard. He pointed to the areas in which cooperation between the two sides can be made, namely tourism, higher education and sports, explaining that Egypt can host competitions, tournaments or sports camps in the new Olympic Village, to name a few. Ambassador Pengiran Salimin, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam in Cairo, addressed the people-to-people relations between the two sides, explaining the importance of enhancing this through the provision of educational opportunities, grants and mutual programs.

Mr. Thanabordee Joothong, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Thailand in Cairo, pointed to the possibility of cooperation in particular in the field of sustainability between the two sides, explaining a number of mechanisms that the Association works on such as ACSDSP, ACC and ACE.

Commenting on the session, it was suggested that attention should be paid to the cultural aspect of health between the two sides, and to strengthen popular relations among children and not be limited to young people and adults. A question also arose about future plans for cooperation between the two sides in the field of knowledge and academia, in reference to the importance of taking into account the differences. On the economic aspect, the importance of making investment procedures easy was emphasized, explaining that this will be through attention to infrastructure and digital transformation and Singapore’s experience in this regard can be cited.

The second session was opened by Ms. Rafeedah Abd. Aziz, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Malaysia in Cairo. In this session, Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines in Cairo, discussed the relations of ASEAN countries with partners, where he spoke about the development of relations in this regard and the consensus on the ASEAN community in 2015 and Vision 2025 in order to promote peace and stability, especially the South China Sea region, through periodic meetings between partners and work to deal with external challenges, and referred to relations with Egypt, where it joined the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) in 2016. In an affirmation of the importance of cooperation at all levels between the two sides, not just high. Cooperation with partners outside ASEAN would be in the areas of geostrategic research and development.

Ambassador Lutfi Rauf spoke about the ASEAN perspective on the Indo-Pacific region. He explained that the Association seeks to promote stability, security, freedom and prosperity by establishing the principles of cooperation and development in the context of the balance of power, where he referred to the objectives, principles, priorities, mechanisms and methods of application of AOIP.

With regard to economic integration among ASEAN countries, Ambassador Dominic Goh, Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore in Cairo, reviewed the development of economic integration among the ASEAN countries in light of the challenges faced, with the principle of a win-win partnership.

Ambassador Rakha Hassan, a member of the Council, addressed the challenges and prospects for security in the Middle East, referring to the requirements of security in the region, in addition to cooperation between its countries in confronting intolerance and hatred, achieving food security, and confronting climate change. He also mentioned a number of challenges facing the Middle East, including interference in internal affairs and the failure to develop a general concept of security in the region, which requires joint collective action to achieve security and stability.

For his part, Ambassador Ezzat Saad, Director of the Council, addressed the competition between major powers around the Middle East, and accordingly, the Egyptian state has pursued since 2014 a policy based on diversity in all fields with all powers. He also explained that the rivalry in the Asian region is exacerbated by the US policy of heading east. Ambassador Mohamed Al-Nuqli, a member of the Council, spoke about the protracted crises in the region in Libya, Sudan and Yemen, pointing to the beginnings and developments of these conflicts and external intervention, and their impact on the Egyptian state.