President Hosni Mubarak stressed on Thursday 20/11/2008 the importance of the visit he paid to India Sunday. He said the visit would further propel bilateral ties and help increase the investments in Egypt and India in view of agreements signed by both sides, along with the role of the private sector in this score.

In statements to newspapers editors in chief on his way back home Thursday 20/11/2008 after wrapping up a five-day trip to India and the UAE, the president said the volume of Egyptian-Indian trade exchange is steadily increasing.

Egypt is granting Egyptian, Arab as well as foreign capital more facilities, with a view to promoting the economic reform process and implementing a number of development ventures, the president said.

As for talks with UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayyed al-Nuhayyan, president Mubarak said that the talks took up means of boosting economic and investment cooperation between the two countries and the impact of the global financial crisis on the Arab region.

Regarding the government's performance in the recent period, Mubarak hailed the government's achievements in spite of the world economic changes that affect Egypt's economy.

The economic policy in Egypt achieved positive results, Mubarak said, citing Egypt's big reserve of foreign currencies with the Central Bank of Egypt and the stability of the Egyptian pound's exchange rate against foreign currencies.

All these achievements indicated that Egypt's economic policy is sound, the president said.

During his visit to India, Mubarak had talks with Indian President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as India's ruling National Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and leader of India's main opposition party LK Advani.

The talks touched upon bilateral ties and a host of regional and international issues of joint interest.

Mubarak was also presented with Nehru Award for International Understanding in recognition of his assiduous contribution to realizing peace and promoting understanding and dialogue at the regional and international levels.

Replying to a question on Barack Obama's win of US presidential elections and Egyptian-US ties, Mubarak said Egypt's relations with Washington are important, hoping they will improve under the new US administration.

As for the possibility of US strike on Iran, Mubarak said if this happens, it will result in grave repercussions on the region's security.

Regarding the rising tide of piracy in international waters, Mubarak said that this phenomenon required international cooperation, adding Egypt could not stop piracy alone.

Asked about his recent visit to Khartoum and Juba, the capital of south Sudan, Mubarak underlined Egypt's keenness on preserving Sudan's unity and assuaging suffering of the Sudanese people in the South.

Talking about Egypt's efforts to achieve reconciliation among the Palestinians, Mubarak said that Egypt spared no effort to back the Palestinian people and push forward the peace process, noting that the coming meeting of Arab foreign ministers will be held in Cairo.