DUBAI: The UAE and Egypt have kick-started celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of bilateral ties between the two countries, Emirates News Agency reported.
“The UAE, today, is celebrating, in Egypt, the 50th anniversary of their close, deep-rooted and advanced relations, and we are at the start of another 50 years, under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and President El-Sisi,” Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum said.
Sheikh Mohammed lauded the close relations between two countries, based on mutual respect and cooperation, to serve the interests of the two countries and the Arab region.
He added that the two countries would continue to cooperate in all areas in the coming period, noting that they shared a forward-looking vision and the determination to continue the development process.
Cairo launched large-scale celebrations on Wednesday under the slogan “Egypt and the UAE . . . One Heart,” which will continue until Friday.
Ministers and officials from the UAE and Egypt will attend the three-day event, as will about 1,800 Emirati and Egyptian personalities, including politicians, senior officials, businessmen, intellectuals, innovators, media professionals and public figures.
“Egypt will always remain the compass, umbrella and pulsing heart for all Arabs in general and Emirati people in particular. Egypt is a source of support, originality and history and the present which encompasses our joint work to achieve development,” UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad bin Abdullah Al-Gergawi said during the opening ceremony of the celebrations.
Al-Gergawi said that Egypt had always supported and embraced the UAE federal experiment, providing it with energy, potential and qualified human resources.
Egyptian President El-Sisi, who also spoke at the opening ceremony, said that the ties between the two countries served as a model for relations between Arab countries.
“The peoples of Egypt and the UAE are always one heart,” he said.
El-Sisi added that “economic and investment cooperation in all fields in general are at the highest level between the two countries and future horizons for comprehensive cooperation are promising and progressing for the sake of the two peoples and the Arab world at large.”