Press release

Foreign Secretary attends Egypt Economic Development conference in Sharm el-Sheikh

Foreign Secretary leads UK trade delegation to Egyptian Economic conference and meets President el-Sisi.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond led a British delegation to Sharm el-Sheikh for the ‘Egypt the Future’ conference on Friday 13th March. A large range of British investors were represented including, BP, Vodafone, Barclays and BG Group.

BP will tomorrow sign a $12 billion investment deal in the West Nile Delta, the single largest investment deal in Egypt’s history. The Foreign Secretary met President el-Sisi to discuss a range of issues, including regional security and the global coalition’s fight against ISIL.

Speaking at the conference, the Foreign Secretary said:

The UK is already the largest foreign investor in Egypt and the Sharm el-Sheikh economic conference is an opportunity to further strengthen trade and investment between the UK and Egypt. Increasing overseas trade is part of our long-term economic plan to boost growth and jobs.

A strong Egyptian economy, which delivers growth and jobs for all Egyptians, is firmly in the UK’s interest as the foundation for security and democracy in that country.

I discussed regional security with President el-Sisi and agreed on the need for the global community to work together to tackle the shared threat of ISIL. We also discussed how to take forward the UK/Egypt High-Level Security Dialogue and the current situation in Libya.

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Published 13 March 2015