Egypt, France sign transport, housing, energy agreements

Egypt, France sign transport, housing, energy agreements

CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has highlighted the importance of his country's strong relationship with France after the two nations signed a raft of cooperation agreements. His comments came during a meeting with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire who also praised Egyptian-French economic and commercial links while passing on President Emmanuel Macron's congratulations to Egypt for its efforts in helping negotiate a ceasefire in the recent Israel and Gaza conflict. Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Le Maire witnessed the inking of a number of agreements between their two countries relating to the transport, housing, and energy sectors. Projects offering development financing of around 1.7 billion euros ($2.06 billion) were agreed with 776 million euros coming from the French government and 990 million euros from the French Development Agency. Two agreements worth 150 million euros were penned to support Egypt's social protection sector and implement a universal health insurance system. A deal to re-establish the French University in Egypt by constructing a fully equipped new campus was also signed with funding of 12 million euros and a grant of 2 million euros.