Egypt’s Vision on the table of the Governing Council of the World

4Summits,19 bilateral and multilateral meetings for the presidents in four days

In the last few years ,due to the international political transformation, the annual periodical sessions of the UN general assembly became like a meeting for the “Governing council of the World; in which the whole leaders of the world discuss the international community issues e.g. world peace and security, administration of international and regional conflicts, combating terrorism and extremism and issues related to sustainable development, education, eradication of poverty, health and diseases fighting, climate issues and other causes of the peoples around the world.

In this council, which is held to manage the affairs of the world, senior leaders of the world hasten to present their countries' stances seeking the interests of their peoples and promoting their roles within the new pattern of international relations that became collective after the end of the bipolar era, and after the failure of attempts of individual forces or international powers to dominate the international system.

On the light of this reality, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has been keen to participate in the annual meetings of the UN General Assembly for the fifth consecutive year. In this international environment, it is important for Egypt to be there at the highest level, to give the world its vision on all the issues related to the region, the continent and the world. Egypt should have a proper seat on the table of the "Governing Council of the world" due to its great role, mission, heritage and the wisdom of its policy.

However, the Egyptian role on this table has developed during the last five years in which President al-Sisi took part in this international forum. At the very beginning, Egypt needed the world to hear its voice, to explain what has been done so far, its current trends and its stands towards complicated issues In the Middle East and Africa. Gradually, the situation changed as today the world became keen to listen to Egypt, to know its vision and to listen to its successful experience in fighting terrorism, achieving stability, applying comprehensive economic reform that have been achieved in only few years.

The world has realized the reality of the path followed by the Egyptian people five years ago to regain its country, embark with human civilization, and restore its role as an indispensable party in solving the problems of the region and the world.

Thus, the world's top leaders competed to meeting with President Sisi during his attendance at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly over the past few days. The president held 19 bilateral and multilateral meetings with the most prominent leaders and international officials. The president delivered speeches at four world summits in four days, the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, the Climate Change Summit and the Group of 77 and China Summit.

The world has recognized the depth of Egypt's historic role on the regional and international scales, and that is why Egypt is reelected as a member of the UN Security Council for the sixth time (2016-2017), got the chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China summit, and the chairmanship of the African Peace and Security Council, starting (2019), all in just 4 years!

Intensive activity in the fifth visit

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi concluded a successful visit to New York in which he participated successfully in the fifth consecutive session of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. He also participated in the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, the Climate Change Summit and the Group of 77 and China summit, He also held discussions with many leaders of the world, including the presidents of Switzerland, S.Korea, Portugal, Lebanon, Jordan, and prime ministers of Italy, Israel, Norway, Belgium, UN General Secretary, IMF managing director, Boeing international president, US chamber of commerce members and members of the Business Council for International Understanding.

The session was launched on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at the UN Headquarters in New York under the theme "Making the United Nations Relevant to All People: Global Leadership and Shared Responsibility for Peaceful, Fair and Sustainable Societies".

The high-level discussions began on 25 September for nine days. The agenda of the session included a number of international and regional issues, including sustainable development, the topics of international peace and security, and political conflicts.

The agenda of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has been full of important international, regional and national issues to explain the achievements of Egypt and its efforts in the fight against terrorism, the outcome of the Sinai comprehensive operation 2018, Egypt’s vision on the developments of events in the middle east specially in Syria, Palestine, Yemen and Libya, the development process in Africa, the respect of international laws and human rights protection; in addition to building and protecting peace.

Nation Sate as a Base for Stability

On 25/9/2018, and in the most important international platform, President al-Sisi delivered Egypt's speech to the UN General Assembly at its 73rd session, in which he presented Egypt's vision to enhance the role of the United Nations, as well as the Egyptian positions towards the regional and international developments, its vision for the priorities of maintaining world peace and security and Egypt's efforts in supporting the fight against terrorism.

The president stressed the Egyptian vision towards the regional and international developments, nuclear disarmament, tackling the imbalance in the international system, respect for human rights and adherence to the modern nation state project based on the principles of citizenship, equality, rule of law and fighting ethnicism in comparison to the current Middle East that turned into a hotbed of conflict and civil war

"There is no room to talk about activating the international system if its basic unity i.e. the nation state which is based on the concepts of citizenship, democracy and equality, is threatened with disintegration," said President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

"The disintegration of states under civil strife and the rebirth of sectarian loyalties as an alternative to national identity are responsible for the most serious phenomena of our contemporary world, such as armed conflicts, rampant trafficking in human beings, illegal immigration, organized crime and illicit arms and drug trafficking," he said.

He stressed that "the Arab region is more vulnerable to the danger of disintegration of nation states and the subsequent creation of a fertile environment for terrorism and the exacerbation of sectarian conflicts." He pointed out that "maintaining the state's strength and reform is a fundamental priority of Egypt's foreign policy in the Arab region. There is no solution for the crisis in Syria and the disaster experienced by Yemen except through restoring the nation state, and maintaining the sovereignty and integrity of its institutions and achieving the legitimate aspirations of its citizens.”

The president confirmed that Egypt is at the forefront supporting the political solution adopted by the United Nations in these two brotherly countries and rejects any exploitation of the crises in Syria and Yemen as means of regional interventions or as an incubator for terrorism, extremism and sectarianism. “This applies to our policy towards Libya, as Egypt plays a central role in supporting the rebuilding of the state, especially with regard to the unification of the military institution to provide a structure capable of defending Libya and countering the dangers of terrorism, the president said.

He stressed the need to renew commitment to the political solution in Libya, confirming that there is no room for partial solutions in Libya or Syria or Yemen, pointing out that major crises need comprehensive treatments, and not partial solutions, if we want to overcome the depletion of human resources and start construction.

Jerusalem and the Palestinian state

In the speech of Egypt to the General Assembly, the President also pointed out that the Palestinian issue is a good proof of the inability of the international system to find out a just solution based on international legitimacy and United Nations resolutions, which guarantee the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. There is no room for wasting time in a debate about them, pointing out that what is required is the political will to resume negotiations and complete the settlement in accordance with these references, reiterating what he said in previous years of this platform, that the hands of the Arabs are still stretched with peace and our peoples deserve to fold This sad page of its history.

On the commitment to achieving comprehensive and sustainable development as a necessary condition for a stable global order and the best ways to prevent armed conflict and humanitarian crises, the President said that "while welcoming the consensus we all reached within the framework of the United Nations on the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan, the implementation of this ambitious plan requires addressing the problem of financing by providing an adequate international climate for the flow of resources and supporting national efforts to mobilize finance for development. Reforming the structure of the global economic and financial system has become irreversible.

We look to the United Nations as a forum to develop ideas for such reform, especially with regard to mechanisms to stop the illicit financial flows from developing countries and to facilitate the restoration of those vital resources to their owners.

Mandela and Abdel Nasser

President Sisi also participated in the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, which coincides with the centennial celebrations of the late President Mandela in the framework of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. He expressed his pleasure at participating in the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit. His history is embodies in achieving dignity , the elimination of all forms of discrimination and laying down the principles of justice and equality among peoples, which put him among the eternal symbols of Africa, such as Nkrumah, Abdel Nasser, Sikotori and Nairi

In his speech, the President affirmed Egypt's support for efforts to strengthen the role of the United Nations in order to enhance its ability to achieve the goals and purposes of the Charter in the achievement and maintenance of international peace and security and to preserve the values of tolerance, mutual respect, understanding and acceptance of others.These values Mandela’s history immortalized as a curricula for international Action.

Egypt and Climate Change

In his speech during the high-level dialogue on the implementation of the Paris Convention on Climate Change, held on 26/9/2018 in New York entitled "Towards the 24th Conference of the States Parties", President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said that Egypt, despite its urgent need for diverse and inexpensive sources of energy to push development efforts, it has taken important steps by increasing reliance on the renewable energy sources, mainly solar energy and wind power, and said that Egypt it is not alone affected by the change, as the African continent is harshly affected by this phenomenon in comparison with all continents, despite being the least contributing to its causes.

President Sisi stressed that the climate change is the biggest challenge among the challenges facing the world. Egypt is committed to activating the Paris Agreement and to reaching a fair and equitable deal that is consistent with and maintains the balance reflected in the agreement between both the required procedures and available support. It is important not to load our developing countries with additional burdens or to expand the reliance on commercial loans or other financing tools that may aggravate the debt burden on developing countries.

Egypt’s presidency of the Group of 77 and China meeting

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi chaired a high-level meeting of the Group of 77 and China at the United Nations, which Egypt presides over this for the third time in the history of the group since its establishment in 1964. Sisi said “During our current presidency of the Group, we have made efforts to reform the United Nations development system to better meet the development needs and needs of the Member States”.

The President said “our joint efforts to achieve sustainable development goals will only succeed by providing funding and creating an appropriate international climate for the flow of the required resources for development, especially for developing countries, and by tackling the structural problems of the global economic, financial and trade system, which obviously affect the efforts to meet new technological challenges and their impacts”.

Egypt took the lead in establishing this Group in the mid-sixties and until now it is the first supporter for this movement as Egypt Foreign Policy Principles include the promotion of South-South cooperation to make the international system fairer and fairer. The priority of eradicating poverty remains main goal of our joint efforts to promote human dignity and to help our citizens to overcome poverty and achieve sustainable development on the basis of equality, the President said.

The President said that providing job opportunities for youth is the first challenge for the Group of 77 and China, noting that the countries and the people of the Group, representing 80% of the world's population and the Group should define a common vision to deal with the unemployment.

President Sisi stressed that the Group of 77 countries should be keen to use technologies for creating new jobs and not to eliminate the existing jobs, adding that the Group of 77 countries need to develop the fields of health, education, water, food and energy. The President noted the importance of using technology for the sustainable development, pointing out that the issue of climate change remains a challenge for developing countries. Egypt, in its capacity as President of the Group of 77, negotiates on behalf of the developing countries at the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention , Climate Change and is keen to push the International efforts to implement the provisions of the Paris Convention on Climate Change, in particular those concerning the mobilization of the necessary financial resources to support the efforts of developing countries to address the challenges of climate change, capacity building and technology transfer. I would like to organize in November the Egyptian 24th Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Sharm El Sheikh to discuss efforts to implement the sustainable development agenda.

President Sisi with World Leaders

On the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, the Egyptian-American summit was held, where The president met with US President Donald Trump. The meeting discussed the bilateral cooperation between Egypt and the United States, especially on the economic level, and ways to increase the volume of investment activities of American companies in Egypt, especially the progress achieved in implementing the economic reform program and creating the legislative and administrative structure to attract more investments to Egypt. For his part, US President praised the successful steps taken to reform the Egyptian economy and increase its competitiveness, stressing that the US ha a desire in increasing the volume of trade exchange between the two countries and promote joint investments between them.

During the meeting, a number of regional issues were discussed, especially the situation in Libya, Syria and Yemen, as well as the Palestinian cause and means of reviving the peace process. President Sisi affirmed Egypt's firm stance towards Palestinian cause and the importance of reaching a just and comprehensive solution that guarantees the rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of an independent State in accordance with international references, expressing Egypt's keenness to cooperate with the US to discuss means of reviving and advancing the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. The President also presented Egypt's efforts to achieve Palestinian reconciliation as a major step towards the resumption of negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

For his part, President Trump also stressed to President Sisi his desire to increase the trade exchange, boost its strategic relations with Egypt and activate cooperation frameworks between the two countries, praising that successful Egypt's efforts to deal firmly with the danger of terrorism.

The tweets of Presidents Sisi and Trump on "Twitter" reflected the success of the joint summit, where President Sisi described US President as "a great figure" and "Trump has made the most unique changes in US policies worldwide". The President Sisi’s tweet came in response Trump's description of his account on "Twitter", where Trump also described the meeting with the Egyptian Leader as "a great".

Arab and international summits

President Sisi led off his activities in New York by receiving the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The meeting tackled means of enhancing bilateral relations, developments in the region and a number of issues on the agenda of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

President Sisi also received the Chairman of the European Council Donald Tusk and the Counselor of the Republic of Austria Sebastian Kurtz. The meeting discussed enhancing various aspects of cooperation with the EU and displaying the results of the informal summit of the EU Heads of State and Government, which was held in Austria on September 19 and 20. The meeting also tackled Arab-European coordination to face the regional challenges, common threats, and the ongoing arrangements for the summit of the Arab countries and the European Union.

President Sisi also met with the Lebanese President Michel Aoun, where he hailed the Egyptian-Lebanese historic relations, fraternity and friendship. He expressed Egypt's keenness on further strengthening of bilateral relations, cooperation frameworks, consultation, coordination and addressing common challenges.

Sisi stressed Egypt’s keenness on supporting the security and stability of all brotherly Arab countries, underlining the rejection of endeavors to intervene in the internal affairs of countries.

 He highlighted Egypt’s support to the value of moderation and avoidance of all forms of extremism and sectarianism, and respect for the diversity that distinguishes the Lebanese society.

Sisi met in New York with the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg. The meeting discussed ways to boost relations between the two countries in fields of mutual interest, especially energy with all its forms, fisheries, shipping and logistics, especially in the Suez Canal axis. As well, they discussed ways of benefiting from Norwegian expertise in the field of petroleum energy and means to enhance the bilateral cooperation between Egypt and Norway in Africa, in the light of their joint concern to support development in the African Continent. The meeting also witnessed an exchange of viewpoints on the latest developments of the Palestinian cause.

The President also met with the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. The meeting displayed means of boosting bilateral relations, especially in the field of security cooperation and exchange of information, as well as economy, in light of the Egyptian efforts to improve the business atmosphere, encourage the private sector and attract direct foreign investments

They also reviewed the opportunities available in the ongoing major development projects, especially the Suez Canal axis and the new administrative capital.

A number of issues related to regional situations and ways of reaching political settlements to the region's crises were also reviewed.

Sisi met with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterich and they discussed the latest updates of the crises witnessed by some countries of the region, particularly the Palestinian cause and the situation in Syria, Libya and Yemen.

The UN Secretary-General reviewed the efforts exerted by the United Nations Organization to reach political settlements to these crises.

He stressed the importance of pursuing intensive coordination and consultation between Egypt and the United Nations on the various regional issues.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attended a luncheon hosted by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterich in honor of the leaders of the countries participating in the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, with King Abdullah II of Jordan. The two leaders discussed means of enhancing bilateral cooperation as well as regional developments as they agreed on the need for reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause that guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people in accordance with the principle of the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The two leaders also urged for concerted Arab efforts to cope with the crises facing some countries in the region. Such efforts should take into account the need for respecting states' sovereignty over their territories and putting an end to the human suffering of their peoples. The two leaders also tackled counter-terrorism efforts and the need for intensifying international efforts to combat terrorism and extremist thought via an integrated strategy that includes intellectual and developmental aspects as well as military and security confrontation.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with Swiss Confederation President Alain Berset. President Sisi reiterated Egypt's keenness on boosting relations and cooperation with Switzerland in various fields. Sisi reviewed the latest economic developments in Egypt during the last period which witnessed implementing the comprehensive economic and social development program. President Sisi reviewed Egypt's endeavors to reach political solutions to the crises in the region in addition to its efforts in fighting terrorism. For his part, Berset also listened to the President's vision on ways to develop cooperation between Switzerland and the African continent, particularly in the light of Egypt's presidency of the African Union during 2019, and its priorities to promote development on the African continent.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. President Sisi expressed Egypt's keenness to continue the close coordination between the two friendly countries, to promote mutual cooperation and to build on the positive results achieved by the presidential visits between the two sides. The President also expressed Egypt's appreciation for Portugal's support for Egypt within the European Union regarding Egyptian efforts in the field of illegal immigration, combating terrorism and extremist ideology. The meeting also discussed means of developing bilateral relations, the latest developments in the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, combating terrorism and illegal immigration.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, with Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. During the meeting, the Italian Prime Minister hailed Egypt's renaissance in the various fields, the economic reform efforts and the achievements of major projects that have begun to bear fruit in achieving economic and social progress. He expressed his keenness to advance cooperation relations with Egypt in the coming period in various fields. For his part, President Sisi welcomed the recent development of bilateral relations and the positive results of the high-level Italian visits to Cairo during the recent period, stressing Egypt's keenness to develop relations of cooperation with Italy, especially in light of the long historical ties between the two countries and the two peoples.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with his counterpart of South Korea Moon Jae-in. Sisi expressed to the South Korean leader Egypt's appreciation of its strong relations with Seoul, lauding the economic cooperation including "successful models" of South Korean investments in Egypt. He expressed Egypt's aspiration to further strengthen relations at various levels, especially in view of the major development projects being implemented in Egypt and the development of infrastructure on a large scale, thus enhancing the investment environment.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi also met on 27/9/2018 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his residence in New York. The meeting discussed means of reviving the peace process. The President affirmed the importance of the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations to reach a just and overall solution to the Palestinian problem based on the two-state solution and the international legitimacy. Sisi noted that reaching a final enduring settlement to the Palestinian issue will contribute to creating a new reality on the ground in the Middle East region and bring about stability, security and prosperity to its entire people. For his part Netanyahu expressed appreciation of the important role played by Egypt in the Middle East, praising its efforts to fight terrorism and consolidate regional peace and stability.

President Sisi met head of the US president’s faith advisory council Michael Evans and a delegation comprising some of America’s foremost leaders of the Evangelical Christian community. President Sisi asserted that Egypt is open to enhancing inter-faith dialogue and interaction among people of different sects and creeds and keen on entrenching the principles of citizenship, equality and non-discrimination among its citizens. The President praised coordination and consultations between Egypt and the United States at all levels and vis-a-vis many issues of mutual concern in a way that serves their interests, particularly with regard to restoring peace and security to the Middle East region.

For his part, Evans expressed his appreciation of Egypt’s efforts to combat extremist thought and promulgate the principles of moderation, equality and acceptance of the other, which he described as setting a good example that should be followed by others. Also, he praised the positive steps taken by Egypt to achieve development and lauded its comprehensive socio-economic reform program that aims at fulfilling the aspirations and ambitions of its people to enjoy prosperity and progress.

Economy is a top priority

On the economic front, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi discussed with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim cooperation projects between Egypt and the bank and means of developing cooperation in various fields, most particularly economic and social development, as well as assisting the government's efforts to attract foreign investments to Egypt.

In his meeting with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, President Sisi reviewed the administrative and legislative reforms taken to stimulate investment and provide a supportive environment. Lagarde also reviewed the IMF efforts in the area of technical support with various Egyptian entities, in addition to supporting Egypt to realize the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 as well as programs and social safety nets for limited income and the neediest brackets.

During a meeting organized by the American Chamber of Commerce and the Egyptian-American Business Council, President Sisi stressed Egypt's keenness to develop its economic partnership with the United States reviewing the Egyptian situation at the political and economic levels, the major national projects launched since 2014 and the investment opportunities available in various sectors in Egypt. He also held an open dialogue with American businessmen who praised the outstanding economic performance and results achieved by the economic reform program in Egypt, expressing their interest in boosting their investments in the Egyptian market and expanding their existing projects.

 At the business dinner organized by the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), President Sisi reviewed the developments in Egypt and the region over the past years and the unprecedented challenges that have necessitated working to stabilize the state, maintain stability and implement an integrated economic and social reform program to increase the competitiveness of the national economy and encourage foreign investments. President Sisi pointed out that Egypt believes in the role of the private sector in achieving development and stressed that it seeks to continue the implementation of economic reforms that shall facilitate the work of the private sector and enhance its role in all sectors, including the participation in the implementation of mega development projects. Those include the Suez Canal Corridor Development Project and the construction of a number of new cities, such as the new administrative capital and the new Al Alamein city. The President noted that this shall accelerate the implementation of various projects and contribute to the implementation of the national strategy for sustainable development “Egypt Vision 2030”.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with Marc Allen, the President of Boeing International, in New York City. President Sisi asserted Egypt's keenness on continuing cooperation with Boeing International in various domains, especially the transfer of expertise and advanced technology. President Sis also expressed his appreciation for the level of cooperation between Egypt and Boeing, the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners, defense, security systems, and space. The meeting tackled aspects of the ongoing cooperation between Egypt and Boeing, which include commercial jets and the development of EgyptAir’s fleet, which includes a large number of Boeing aircraft, as well as cooperation in the defense field.

Invest in Egypt

On the economic side, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi also inspected the "Invest in Egypt" pavilion, which was organized by the Egyptian government on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The pavilion included the most important features of the Egyptian economy, the investment opportunities available in Egypt and the facilities available to foreign investors. The pavilion also included photographs and publications on achievements in energy, roads, investment areas and new cities.

President Sisi also was interviewed by the American CBS channel at his residence in New York, during which he discussed various internal, regional and international issues. During the interview, the President reviewed the Egyptian vision on various regional and international issues as well as counter-terrorism efforts and the economic reform adopted by the Egyptian state.

Thus, the harvest of President Sisi's visit to New York came to enhance the role and status of Egypt, and to provide more international political and economic support for Egypt and its efforts for peace, stability, development and prosperity.