The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, asserted the necessity of utilizing the tripartite cooperation between Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean region as an important model in order to deepen the Arab-European partnership and develop cooperation in diverse fields, citing a governmental statement.

In Athens, the Egyptian minister attended the opening of the fourth EU-Arab World Summit under the title “A Strategic Partnership” and highlighted Egypt’s vision to boost economic cooperation based on integration, not competition.

The Arab countries’ imports from Europe represented nearly 27.4%, while the Arab countries’ exports recorded only 11%, and that reflected the trade imbalance between the two parties, El Molla stressed.

The Egyptian minister suggested boosting cooperation between the two parties in the value-added field, which would lead to real development.

El Molla demonstrated the success of the energy sector during the past five years, which has a positive impact on the local, regional, and global levels as Egypt becomes self-sufficient in natural gas and resumes exporting it.

Moreover, Egypt has restored the confidence of its partners, aiming to increase investments in the research and exploration (E&P) field, El Molla added, pointing out the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed between Egypt and the European Union in the energy field in April, 2018, which contributed to the regional energy security.

The fourth EU-Arab World Summit will be held from October 29 till October 30, 2019.