Congressional Staffers Visits   Delegation Brief on Visit Staffers Visits

Staffers Delegation January 15-22, 2006

AmCham Egypt, in collaboration with the Egyptian American Cooperation Foundation, hosted its seventh group of senior Congressional staffers from January 15th to January 22nd, 2006.

AmCham Egypt began hosting bipartisan congressional staff delegations in January of 2002 as follow-ups to its 20-year old policy of undertaking Door-knock Missions to Washington D.C. We once again took note of the fact that the personal relationships created by these past visits to Egypt of some 70 Congressional staff that AmCham has organized and hosted proved extremely helpful in arranging meetings in Washington and in communicating Egypt’s perspective. This growing network of Congressional staffers is becoming a reliable and dedicated source of support for Egypt within Congress.

Congressmen are becoming more and more dependent on their staff for assessments concerning international decisions due to the time constraints exerted on them as they address domestic issues pertaining to their constituencies.

The one-week long trip made up of a comprehensive schedule, included meetings with high-ranking government officials, visits to USAID projects, sightseeing tours, and a one-day trip to the city of Luxor.

The delegation visited with a number of Egyptian government officials, including Omar Soliman, Chief of Egyptian General Intelligence, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Eng. Rachid M. Rachid, Minister of Trade & Industry, Dr. Youssef Botrous Ghali, Minister of Finance; Dr. Mahmoud Mohi El Din, Minister of Investment; Dr. Fayza Aboul Naga, Minister pf International Cooperation, as well as Dr. Kamal Abou El Magd, Co-Chairman of the National Council on Human Rights.

The delegation members received a detailed and interesting overview from Omar Soliman on the regional political situation and Egypt’s past and current stances on the issues. The Palestinian- Israeli conflict, the Iraq war, and the Iran nuclear situation were the most prevalent issues throughout the meeting.

Rachid gave a briefing on Egypt’s economic, business, trade, and investment and proceeded to take questions from the delegation for the remainder of the time. Issues addressed included economic reform, global competition, the QIZ agreement, and the future of Egypt-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The delegation also received a detailed presentation on the success of the QIZs in Egypt from Dr. Ali Awny, Director of the QIZ Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Trade & Industry.

Dr. Aboul Magd provided an outline of how the Council on Human Rights works, and stated that the Council’s top priorities consist of reinforcing moderates in society, developing the status of women, as well as safeguarding the freedom of press and expression.

Representatives of the Ministry of Defense also met with the delegation. The meeting was very constructive, and detailed the military cooperation between Egypt and the US. The Egyptian side reiterated the importance of US military aid to Egypt, stressing the need to maintain the level of assistance as it is in the future.

Aboul Gheit spoke to the delegation about the direction of Egypt’s foreign policy, highlighting what Egypt’s approach is towards international diplomacy, especially as pertaining to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and the situation in Iraq. He also noted that open lines of communication must be maintained to increase understanding between Arabs and the United States.

During a luncheon hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, assistant minister for North & Latin America, members of the delegation got a chance to interact individually with representatives of the ministry.

During a short, one-day visit to Upper Egypt, the congressional staffers toured Luxor’s ancient Pharaonic monuments, including Luxor and Karnak Temples, as well as the Valley of the Kings. Officials spoke to the group on the progress of USAID projects thus far and the resources needed to combat remaining problems, one of which is the considerable damage to the monuments caused by the rising water table.

At the conclusion of their visit, the delegation of congressional staffers noted that their trip to Egypt had been among the best. They were grateful for the hospitality of the Egyptian people on the whole, as well as assured by the variety of meetings of the strong will to continue to develop and affirm ties between the two nations. On the whole, the staffers rated their trip as the highest in caliber in terms of educational and recreational value. Most importantly, the mission had succeeded in presenting Egypt, government and people, as it really is, through cultural, social and political discussions and excursions.

This trip was made possible in kind by the contributions of:

• Conrad Cairo Hotel General Manager Jan Mönkedieck
• Accor Group of Hotels Managing Director Jean-Michel Casse
• American Express Egypt General Manager Mohamed El Shabrawy
• Abercrombie & Kent Managing Director Amr Badr

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