Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty met with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Ali Sabry, in Cairo on Saturday to discuss enhancing trade and investment relations between the two countries, as well as recent developments in the Gaza conflict.
According to the Egyptian foreign ministry, FM Abdelatty praised the activation of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including the successful second round of political consultations at the level of Assistant Foreign Ministers held in Colombo in July 2023.
He also welcomed Sri Lanka’s relaunching of the Egyptian-Sri Lankan Parliamentary Friendship Association at the end of last year.
FM Abdelatty commended the investments by major Sri Lankan companies in Egypt’s ready-made garments sector and invited more Sri Lankan investors to explore promising opportunities in the manufacturing sector.
Minister Sabry expressed his country’s interest in strengthening cooperation with Egypt in economic, cultural, and counter-terrorism areas.
In response, Minister Abdelatty reaffirmed Cairo’s readiness to collaborate with Sri Lanka in combating terrorism, citing Al-Azhar’s leading role in promoting tolerant thought, as demonstrated by its dispatching of imams to Sri Lankan schools and religious institutions.
Abdelatty also emphasized Cairo’s commitment to increasing tourism exchange between the two countries by activating the joint memorandum of understanding signed in 2008.
The two ministers further discussed ways for Sri Lanka to benefit from Egypt’s pioneering expertise in training personnel in the tourism and archaeological sectors.
