European Commission to extend EUR 100 m to Egypt to promote food security

16 / 06 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will provide an immediate relief of EUR 100 million to Egypt for the immediate situation now of food security, according to the European Commission website.

She made the remarks in a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi following their talks in Cairo.

“This will hopefully help to increase the grain storage capacity and will provide finance for rural businesses and farmers,” she expounded.

“We will also have to completely renew and boost the local food production. And therefore, the European Union is very interested in investing in the local food production. We will devote EUR 3 billion to agriculture and nutrition, water and sanitation programs over the next years, here in the region,” she added.

“These investments will support food systems in your region and elsewhere, so that we can together discuss how to develop solutions and technologies that are fit for purpose here in Egypt. These are the modern technologies of precision farming, you mentioned artificial intelligence, the new crops adapted to climate change. Because it is so important for us that, in the region, the production of food is improved and increased, and thus the dependency from other regions is reduced,” she said.

“Over time, this will ensure stable supplies of quality and affordable food for all. And this is the common interest that we do have. Egypt will be at the heart of this major shift,” she said.

“I am very much looking forward, Mr President, to working with you on this, also to mobilise together a strong international response,” she added.

“I think – and we have discussed that – that it is very important that here we stand together globally to manage this food security crisis; that we find solutions that are fair for everybody; that we look at the distribution of grain, for example, worldwide; and that we really have an emphasis on vulnerable countries that are dependent on the daily food, so that here solidarity is globally organised. And this is a task that we want to approach together,” she said.

“Then, of course, we want to extend our cooperation on energy…And we want to get rid of this dependency. We want to diversify to trustworthy suppliers. And Egypt is a trustworthy partner. For us is important that we really discuss the whole width of energy supply that is possible,” she added.

“Egypt to become a regional energy hub. It is for us also very important to look forward into the new forms of energies. And these are, of course, the renewable energies. And here, I must say that you are in a very lucky position as you have the resources that are necessary for renewable energies in abundance – the sun, the wind. So these will be the energies of the future. And the demand will be enormous. And therefore, it is in our common interest to explore together how to put the infrastructure and the technologies in place that are fit for renewables. We are, for example, working together on a hydrogen partnership. It is moving nicely forward. And we are both looking forward to launching it at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh,” she said.

“Egypt has the potential to be a leader in renewable energy production and export. And therefore, we all know that your country will play a crucial role in COP27 to keep the global community on track towards our climate goals, but also to boost the modern technologies for clean energy that is so necessary,” she added.