On 16 September 2022, political consultations were held between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia and the Arab Republic of Egypt. The consultations were co-chaired by the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andris Pelšs, and the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt for European Affairs, Ambassador Ihab Nasr.
The State Secretary highlighted the positive dynamics in the exchange of high-level visits, including the visit to Cairo by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and a business delegation this past 12-13 June.
The Latvian and Egyptian officials were unanimous about the need to strengthen economic cooperation, especially in the areas of information and communication technologies, education, and agriculture. They agreed to continue working on the expansion of the legal framework and welcomed amendments to the Agreement of 1 March 2009 between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt on Cooperation in Education and Science. The participants of the consultations expressed their hope that the agreement would facilitate experience sharing between students, scientists and academic staff.
Andris Pelšs and Ihab Nasr discussed the global repercussions of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the damage inflicted on the energy sector and food security; they also agreed about the necessity to diversify trade partners.
In a discussion on latest developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, and the Horn of Africa. Andris Pelšs and Ihab Nasr were of the same opinion that cooperation in international organisations, including the United Nations, should be reinforced.
During the Latvian-Egyptian consultations, a meeting was held between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and the Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt for European Affairs, Ambassador Ihab Nasr. The officials discussed the global impact of the war waged by Russia on Ukraine, especially in the energy and food sectors, and they also exchanged views on opportunities for bilateral cooperation that would reduce the negative influence of the war on both their countries.
During his visit to Latvia, Assistant Foreign Minister Nasr met with representatives from the Presidium of the Saeima, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Education and Science, Riga Technical University, and the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence. He also visited several IT companies interested in cooperating with Egypt.
Background information
These were the second political consultations with Egypt since the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a mechanism for bilateral consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Latvia and Egypt on 22 November 2018. The previous round of consultations was held on 3 December 2020 in a video-conference format.