To address the current state of the Egyptian diplomacy and challenges of Egypt’s current state, the Canada Egypt Business Council (CEBC) and the Egyptian Council for Sustainable Development (ECSD) hosted a discussion featuring H.E. Sameh Shoukry Minister of foreign affairs. Previous ministers and senior officials attended the event. They included Dr. Ibrahim Fawzy, Dr. Alaa fahmy, Dr. Ali El Saaidy, Dr Ali Moselhy, and Dr. Moshira Khattab.

The ambassadors of Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Ecuador, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya Lithuania, Norway, Pakistan, Oman, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tunisia, and Canada were also in attendance. They were joined by CEBC and ECSD’s esteemed members, guests, businessmen and reporters.

In his opening remarks Eng. Motaz Raslan noted that the CEBC and ECSD had hosted the ambassador almost a year and a half ago to discuss the aftermath following the 30th of June. It was a time where Egypt was working to rectify its image, proving itself, and enhancing its strategic position. Raslan commented that since then, Egypt has been facing a myriad of challenges, one after another.

Minister Shoukry assumed the floor and gave a brief speech highlighting the drastic changes that have occurred around the world in recent times. He said that much has changed since the end of the cold war and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, including the rise of new power players in the world, and the Arab spring with all its positive and negative outcomes. Shoukry expressed that we are living in a critical time whether globally or more regionally. The only way to face these challenges according to the minister is to keep working on maintaining meaningful relationships with all the diverse entities in the world. He noted that we do not live alone, and that we need to be attentive and to maintain positive relationships with other states.

The floor was then opened for a lengthy Q&A session that tackled traditional foreign policy issues such as the Palestinian peace process and more recent ones such as the Russian plane crash in Sinai. Below is a summary of minister Shoukry’s feedback to the questions raised: Egypt is a strategic ally of the United States of America. With ongoing US aid to Egypt as well as many American businesses and investments operating in Egypt and trade agreements, both countries’ relationship is a strong and stable one. Egypt enjoys a similar relationship with the countries of Western Europe. However that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any discrepancies between Egypt and these countries due to varying visions on how to deal with certain issues.

The Egyptian vision towards regional issues is based on knowledge and years of experience, which has made Egypt better at predicting the repercussions of some decisions that our allies in the US and Western Europe take. In the end, we all get affected by these decisions one way or another. That’s why in foreign policy, it is key to work with our allies with mutual respect to benefit all parties.

Regarding the Syrian issue, Egypt is one of the biggest proponents of a political solution. After more than five years of suffering and distress of the Syrian population, it is clear that a political solution is needed more than ever. Egypt is in talks with the Syrian opposition coalition as well as the Syrian government to work towards a solution. A solution should eventually be reached through the Security Council.

The fall of the Russian flight over the Sinai Peninsula had a hefty negative impact on Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, especially Sharm El Sheikh. One of the first points I brought up with the Russian officials during my recent trip to Russia was Egypt’s desire for the severed flight routes between Russia and the red sea to be resumed. On the other hand, we are doing our best to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into the incident.