CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 01/2016

LE MONDE EGYPT | INTERVIEW
H.E. Khaled Abdel-Rahman Shamaa
“Egypt is moving into a stable and progressive phase.“
H.E. Khaled Shamaa, the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Austria, outlines the path of his
country towards more economic growth and the range of new security measures already implemented.
Interview: Rainer Himmelfreundpointner
KHALED ABDEL-RAHMAN SHAMAA
PHOTO: RALPH MANFREDA
Anyone having the privilege of
visiting the Egyptian Embassy in
Vienna‘s 19th district, immediately
feels the joys of some gentle breath of
history, as if the spirits of ancient pharaos
would still be around in what is one of the
most beautiful Embassy buildings of the
city. When Khaled Shamaa, the Ambassador
of the Arab Republic of Egypt to
Austria, sat down with „Cercle Diplomatique“
for an exclusive interview in early
February 2016, he therefore first embarked
on the deep historic ties between Egypt
and Austria. The first major cultural and
technological exchange took place in the
middle of the 19th century, when the
Austrian engineer Alois Negrelli took part
in the plannings of the Suez Canal, which
were inaugurated on 17 November1869,
with a high level celebration which
Austrian Emporer Franz Joseph I. payed
his visit. ”That was more or less the first
high level visit of state“, Khaled reports.
After World War II, many Egyptians
started to study at Austrian Universities
which led to the formation of a large
Egyptian community in Austria, up to
nearly 150,000 Austrian tourists visiting
Egypt last year, and strong economic
relations. In the light of the recent political
developments in Egypt, this aspect is
gaining more and more importance, the
Ambassador points out in the interview.
In his opening statement he starts with a
roundup of Egypt‘s current political
constitution.
CD: Your Excellency, can you please share with us
your view about the state of Egypt and its
political framework five years after the revolution,
also known as the ”Arab Spring“?
KHALED SHAMAA: These last few years
were quite turbulent, during which Egypt
has witnessed two revolutions in 2011 and
in 2013. But we are now moving on, not
only into a stable but also into a progressive
phase.
For the first time we have a constitution
that has been elaborated extensively by leading
Egyptian figures from all works of life,
which has been approved by a national referendum
and that was lately followed by
Parliamentary elections.
The new Parliament has historically the
highest representation of women, Copts,
and intellectuals. Therefore, it could be
considered a true representative of the people
of Egypt.
So things are moving in the right direction.
But that does not mean that there are
no challenges ahead.
Thanks to its high birth rate, Egypt is growing by
some two million people each year. Can the
economy provide enough jobs for your expanding
population?
The economy is one of our main challenges.
We need more jobs, education,
healthcare and housing. To address this issue,
Egypt has launched several development
projects – some are mega-projects,
many others are platforms for small and
medium enterprises – in agricultural, energy,
infrastructure and housing among
others.
Several Austrian companies have participated
or are planning to participate in
such projects, including in renewable energy
and water management systems, with
several Memorandums of Understanding
for cooperation already concluded, including
the leading Austrian company Kapsch.
Funding for such investment projects
has been secured through cooperation
with many partners including the Gulf states,
China, India, Germany, UK and many
partners, and also from private investments.
As a matter of fact one of the major investment
projects that was completed recently,
namely the expansion of the Suez
Canal, was totally funded by Egyptians.
And as for the economic activities with the
European Union, which is Egypt‘s main trade
partner, counting for more than 30 percent of
trade volume? How would you judge the
developments in this regard?
There are already a lot of big investments,
mainly in the energy sector, which
is among the fastest growing sectors in
Egypt. There are substantial investments in
the exploration and development of oil
fields from the Italian giant ENI, following
a major discovery of gas fields in the Mediterranean.
From Siemens we have a deal to
construct twelve power stations.
All of these will also provide value addition
in terms of training and education,
which further contribute to the economy at
large.
Can you give us some examples of Austrian
companies active in Egypt, since our trade volume
of some 300 million Euros seems to have catched
up lately?
Well, apart from Kapsch, Frequentis,
Fabasoft, Vamed, Siemens Austria and
many other Austrian Companies that are
or have been doing business and investment
in Egypt, we have had an increased
exchange of business delegations between
the two countries. We had a visit by a delegation
from the Egyptian Federation of Industries
in February of last year, and just
recently a business delegation organised by
the Austrian Chamber of Commerce has
just completed a visit to Egypt.
In all our business and technical cooperation
with Austria, we emphasise also the
value addition to our transactions, namely
the necessary technology transfer, but also
The Egyptian Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to Austria and Permanent Representative
to the International Organisations in Vienna
(since 2011), holds a Master of International Affairs
from George Washington University.
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Cercle Diplomatique 1/2016
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