Minister Cowen Welcomes Agreement Between International Development Ireland Ltd (IDI) and Gulf of Suez Authority
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Brian Cowen T.D., in his meeting with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr. Ahmed Maher El Sayed, at the United Nations yesterday, welcomed the signing in Cairo of an agreement between International Development Ireland Ltd (IDI) and the Gulf of Suez Authority on the establishment of a Special Economic Zone at the Gulf of Suez.
The signing ceremony was held at the Office of the Prime Minister of Egypt and was attended by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, and senior officials of the Prime Minister's Department, as well as the Irish Ambassador to Egypt, Mr Richard O'Brien.
The agreement signed by Mr. Ronan Deignan, Managing Director of IDI, and Dr. Mustafa Sha'arawi, Chairman of the Gulf of Suez Zone Authority, appoints IDI as the external advisers on the establishment of the Special Economic Zone. It will involve the immediate formation of a team of some twenty senior personnel from IDI who will work with their Egyptian counterparts under the leadership of Mr. David Lovegrove, the former Chief Executive of Forfás.
Minister Cowen said that the appointment of IDI to this prestigious and flagship project of the Egyptian Government's industrial development strategy recognised IDI's well established international reputation. It was also an important acknowledgment of the success of Ireland's own industrial and economic transformation in recent years and of the interest the international community has in the Irish experience.
Minister Cowen also reiterated his own commitment to the publication of a strategy for the further development of our economic relations with Egypt and the rest of the Arab world in the near future.
