CAIRO: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who attended the G20 meeting in New Delhi on March 1-2, focused on intertwined crises facing the international community, including climate change, the debt crisis, and the increase in food and energy prices, in his speech to the assembled nations.
He stressed the need for a political message supporting international stability and solidarity and resolving differences in order to restore the global economy to its vitality, and achieve the goals of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
Ahmed Abu Zeid, the spokesperson for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, said Shoukry highlighted in his speech that the resilience of the multilateral international system during future geopolitical crises requires a “broader representation in the decision-making bodies including the UN Security Council.”
The minister highlighted the need to strengthen the international economic structure to help developing countries overcome economic fluctuations and achieve sustainable development goals.
He urged the G20 members to support expanding the role of development banks in combating poverty.
Shoukry said the absence of reforms would lead to an increase in debt burdens on developing countries, “which threatens the progress achieved over the past decades in combating poverty.”
He also talked about the impact of the increase in food prices on the African continent and Egypt and expressed his country’s readiness to cooperate with the international community to host a center for the supply of grain. The center, he said, would help reduce price volatility and the disruption of supply chains.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Shoukry met his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, and welcomed the Netherlands’ decision to increase the volume of its investments in Egypt and to build on the success stories achieved by Dutch companies in the Egyptian market.
Shoukry met British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and discussed issues of mutual interest with him. He also held talks with his counterparts from Argentina and Canada.
