Never in our lives have we experienced such a global phenomenon that has affected the modern world as the Corona pandemic ‘Covid-19’. How will this phenomenon affect human business atmosphere as well as international relations with much less human interaction? No doubt that exploring the adverse effects of lockdowns, restriction to travel and business on the personal and official levels became really crucial to everyone. Humanity and its collective focus has come together on the same existential threat, informed by the unprecedented reach of digital technology, But are we still witnessing a crack in the world order and dynamics of international relations and human interaction?

In this context, Canada Egypt Business Council and the Egyptian Business Council for International Cooperation had the honor to host H.E. Ambassador Christian Berger ; Head of the European Union Delegation to the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Ambassador Stéphane Romatet; Ambassador of France, H.E. Ambassador Dr. Georg STILLFRIED; Ambassador of Austria to Egypt and Amb. Amr El Henawy; Assistant Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs who were all discussing the topic “The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on International Relations”.

In the opening remarks Eng. Motaz Raslan; on behalf of CEBC & ECIC; welcomed our dear distinguished members, guests, ambassadors and his dear friends H.E. Ambassador Christian Berger, H.E. Ambassador Stéphane Romatet, H.E. Ambassador Dr. Georg STILLFRIED and Amb. Amr El Henawy.

Eng. Motaz Raslan said “At first, I will start my word with a quote, by the writer and philosopher Bertrand Russell…” (The only thing, capable of saving humanity, is cooperation…)

“Surely this is an established fact but its importance appeared even more, with the corona pandemic, that stopped life for months in a lot of countries, which consequently suffered heavy losses, where the repercussions of this fallout, are still protracted on many sectors of the economy in a lot of different countries and these adverse effects are far from being over.

Then Eng. Motaz Raslan mentioned that this situation, will only end, with cooperation, and the discovery of an effective vaccine, that ends this disturbing nightmare there is no doubt, that the corona crisis, revealed the decline of the concept of international solidarity and shared responsibility, in the face of such a pandemic, that is almost threatening the peace and international security, across the globe.

He ended his word saying “Before I end my word I would like to assure that our meeting today, confirms our keenness and desire to strengthen Social Solidarity relations and international cooperation, in the face of any future crises and future adversaries and as I mentioned in the beginning of my word: “Cooperation is the only thing to save mankind”

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Georg STILLFRIED asked; do you remember that pandemic before, how many people were conversant with the Spanish Flu? From my point of view I don’t think it’s a coincidence… In a modern society that we have now; technology, medicine & the way we think about solving problems are different than the 14th Century; as back then there was nothing much we could do. In the 20th Century we have developed the theory of germs & how illness propagates…etc. the impact in modern times is becoming less than it used to be. When we ask about impact of foreign relations; we need to compare international relations before pandemic situation with a post pandemic situation and see what changed? How much was the impact and I put it to you that the main characteristics of pre-pandemic in politics during the last 3 decades is the so slow emergence of bipolar world that includes the U.S. on one hand & the rising power of China on the other hand; that is the big political story for the last 2 decades.

He added the in terms of business; increasing globalization & the two are connected because China profited most from globalization as its biggest increase in its growth humanity has seen happened in China thanks to globalization. Are we going to change that? Will the bipolar system be any different after than before…? I don’t think so; that big picture won’t change it will still be about United States & China as I think globalization will continue.

Finally he added that the pandemic won’t affect the big picture but as we already seen that maybe it will have an influence on the chain of supply, production of some products & medical equipment things like that but those are not the kind of changes that will fundamentally reorient international relations like the first world war, second world war or the breakup of the Soviet union; its none of this.  

H.E Ambassdor Stéphane Romatet; he thanked CEBC for welcoming us in this nice auditorium & continued that previous historical crisis we knew when it began and when it finishes but this COVID-19 crisis is different as there is no length to it like we all know approximately when it began but we don’t know when will it end and this uncertainty is destroying in terms of confidence as well as destabilizing for our economies, leadership and for our governments.

Over-and-above he said, we are also facing geo-economic shock with this COVID-19 crisis; it’s a crisis of supply, demand and we have seen how far it went with complete disruption of product chains, interruption of trade between China, Europe & The United States…etc. and on a world wide scale. As well as we see different sectors that are deeply affected for example here in Egypt; tourism & air transportation…etc.

This combination of shocking demand & supply is quite new & shows the magnitude of the geo-economic impact of this crisis.

I don’t think this crisis is eruptional but I think it will just accelerate some evolutions which started already. We also need to pay attention to this new weakening in gas health as geopolitics I’m sorry to say that we have seen a deep lack of leadership from the U.S. as 20 years ago the U.S. would have taken the leadership in cooperation & coordination.

H.E. Ambassador Berger said, “I am honored to serve as the EU Ambassador to Egypt, and offer my heartfelt greetings and deep respect to the people of Egypt.”

“The EU and Egypt are close partners and enjoy a long-standing friendship and strong relations in many fields,” he added, “The EU is Egypt’s largest trading partner and the number one foreign direct investor, and we also work together on global issues facing the two sides, like the current [COVID-19] pandemic.”

He noted that he is looking forward to working closely with the EU’s Egyptian partners in the government and civil society, as well as the business community and many other stakeholders. With our partners and friends in the League of Arab States we will further deepen our co-operation in the face of common strategic challenges,” he added.

The floor was then opened for Q&As addressed from the audience to the ambassadors