White House
11 November 2022
Tonino Lamborghini International Convention Center
Sharm Alsheikh, Egypt
03:50 pm Egypt time
President Sisi: Welcome to Sharm el-Sheikh, Mr. President. I also welcome your delegation. This is a wonderful opportunity as we celebrate this year the 100th anniversary of US-Egyptian relations.
Allow me to say that it is a great opportunity to now celebrate the centenary of the establishment of relations between Egypt and the United States.
Your visit to Sharm El-Sheikh is a true reflection of the strength of the relationship between our two countries and will give great impetus to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27).
This is also a great opportunity in which we can strengthen the strategic relationship between our two countries.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and a number of members of the US Congress, and we talked about various issues. That was great.
I would like to take the opportunity of having the American media with us to talk about the issues of the Middle East as a whole and how things are developing in this region.
I would first like to emphasize the strength of the strategic relationship between Egypt and the United States, which has not changed over the past 40 years. We have always gathered a common understanding on all issues related to this region.
But there is one point that is always central to the discussion, and we appreciate it very much, and that is the human rights part. We are taking a comprehensive approach in this particular regard that I would like you to hear about and follow because we are very keen on improving it.
We have launched a National Human Rights Strategy, then another National Dialogue initiative this year. This coincided with the formation of the presidential pardon committee. We are following up on all relevant issues and all proposed lists are approved.
I don’t think it is appropriate for us to take the whole time to talk about this issue while you are here, but I wanted to go over topics of common interest in general.
Welcome, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: I can hear you much more, Mr. President.
President Sisi: I appreciate your words.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: I mean what I say.
President Sisi: I appreciate your words. Thanks.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: I’d like to start by thanking you for hosting COP27. Egypt has always been called the “Mother of the World,” so it seems appropriate that you would host this environmental effort.
Thank you for reminding us of the urgency of this crisis. This is an urgent crisis and we should do much more.
President Sisi: Right.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: And that’s why we sent the best — Secretary Kerry who knows more about the environment and what we should be doing than most of the people I know.
Incidentally, Egypt has been a key mediator, and I appreciate what we have been able to achieve with regard to Gaza and the strong counter-terrorism partnership that we have established.
Egypt spoke forcefully at the United Nations in the face of the Russian war in Ukraine, and we greatly appreciate that.
Today we will also discuss a full range of bilateral issues and I have mentioned some of them, such as maintaining our strong defense partnership, striving for a more integrated Middle East and continuing our dialogue on human rights. I am happy to hear the news of the formation of the Presidential Committee.
Looking forward to our conversation. As we said as we walked down the hall, it is hard to believe the centenary of strong bilateral relations.
President Sisi: Yes.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: I hope we can say we’re closer and stronger in every way when the celebrations come to an end at the end of this year.
President Sisi: Yes.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Thank you for having me.
President Sisi: This is my pleasure.
03:58 pm Egypt time
