The Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Tirana celebrated the 66th anniversary of the 23rd of July revolution, which marks an immortal day in Egypt's history, and presents a model for the African and Arab countries in their struggle to achieve their liberation and independence.
The reception was attended by Albanian government representatives, ambassadors and representatives of the diplomatic missions in Tirana.
Ambassador Mohamed Khalil highlighted, in his speech held on this occasion, the role of the Egyptian revolutions in paving the way for a new era of political, economic and social developments in Egypt, the Middle East, and the African continent, starting from 23rdof July revolution and passing through the 25 January, 2011 and 30th of June 2013 revolutions, as he said :
"Half a century later, Egypt witnessed the 25th of January 2011 revolution, where people raised the slogan of dignity, freedom and social justice, protected by the Egyptian army who stood alongside the people in defending the revolution and the achievements of our people. The June 30th, 2013 revolution took place to correct the path and to mark another achievement of the Egyptian people, that managed to protect the Middle-East region as well as the Islamic identity from extremism, a phenomenon that is not related to the Islamic religion."
Making an overview of the bilateral relations between Egypt and Albania, Ambassador Khalil said that "Being the Ambassador of Egypt to the Republic of Albania, I renew Egypt's unwavering commitment to promote the bilateral relations of cooperation in all fields, based on a historic and friendly relations that we cherish."
Politically, Ambassador Khalil said that the Egyptian - Albanian relations have been always based on continuous coordination, exchange of views on the current international and regional issues, in addition to the common positions toward maintaining the International peace and security.
On economic cooperation level, the two governments are working together to strengthen the economic and trade cooperation, based on a strong legal framework of bilateral agreements that covers the various fields of economic cooperation that would be reflected soon on establishing an Egyptian-Albanian joint Business Council, and activating the Joint Trade Commission between Egypt and Albania.
And culturally, the Embassy, in cooperation with the Albanian Ministry of Culture and the Tirana Municipality, organized together the participation of The Egyptian National Folk Troup in Tirana Cloud Festival , followed by another successful performance in the historic city of Gjirokastra, southern Albania.
A number of Albanian scholars participated as well in the World Youth Forum, last November in Sharm El Sheikh, which was attended by young leaders from around the world, to discuss important topics like sustainable development, counter-extremism, etc.
Egyptian Universities offer as well a number of scholarships for the Albanian students and graduates in different fields of study, in addition to the capacity building programs provided by the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development.
At the end of his speech, Ambassador Khalil conveyed his country's best congratulations to the Albanian government and people on the success of setting a specific date for starting the EU accession negotiations next year. "This success is well deserved, to acknowledge the huge efforts that have been done by the friendly country of Albania during the last few years to achieve the Albanian People's dream in joining the EU family," he pointed out.
The National Day Reception included an exhibition of oil paintings titled "Egypt Civilization and Culture" done by the Spouse of the Ambassador of Egypt, Sally Salem, that unveiled some aspects of the ancient civilization and cultural heritage of Egypt.