14.07.2021.

Minister Stefanović finishes three-day official visit to Egypt

Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, has visited the Egyptian Tank Plant (Factory 200) near Cairo, the International Medical Centre and a special operations unit, Task Force 777, thus ending his three-day official visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Minister Stefanović said that the talks with Egyptian officials were exceptionally favourable and thanked his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Ahmed Zaki for the magnificent welcome.

– Continuing my visit to Egypt, I’ve had the opportunity to visit the military industrial complex today, where I saw the capabilities of the Egyptian military industry and what their industry can do together with us. We discussed specific joint projects aimed at developing some modern weapons of the future, but also about what our military industry can do for the Egyptian armed forces. We concluded that this type of joint cooperation that both armies and ministries benefit from can help our young experts and our companies work with the technology of the future, which would be beneficial to both Serbia and Egypt - Minister Stefanović pointed out.

He also commented on the visit to the International Medical Centre, emphasizing that cooperation with Egypt in the field of military health was very important for Serbia.

– We had the opportunity to see the capabilities of Egyptian military health at the International Medical Centre and we talked to our experts about what we can do together and what our experts could learn from them, and also how we can improve our cooperation. Through the Memorandum that we signed with the Egyptian Ministry of Defence, we will have the opportunity to develop this type of cooperation in the coming period - Stefanović emphasized.

The Minister of Defence also mentioned his visit to the special operations unit, Task Force 777, and commended their readiness and level of training.

– During our visit to the Egyptian special operations unit we had the opportunity to see what their special forces are like, their tactics, their training, as well as the equipment and weapons they use. At the same time we had the opportunity to discuss potential joint training of our forces - Minister Stefanović added.

He said that the cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt was extremely important for the Republic of Serbia.

– I would like to express my gratitude once again to the Honourable Minister of Defence who organized a rather magnificent visit for our delegation, but I also want to commend the commitment of our team who came here to Egypt to discuss all important areas and provide benefit to both our Ministry and the country through military to military and military-technical cooperation - the Minister of Defence said.

The factory, which, in addition to M1 Abrams tanks, produces a wide range of combat vehicles, weapons, ammunition and protective equipment, has been presented today to Minister Stefanović and the Serbian delegation by Major General Mohamed Salah, Deputy Chairman of the Military Production Committee and Factory Director Refik Rezi Abdullah.

The delegation led by Minister Stefanović also visited the International Medical Centre, where they were welcomed by Major General Dr Mustafa Abuhatab, General Manager of the International Medical Centre, and the capacities of this modern health institution were presented to them by Dr Ahmed Faruk Mira, Head of Vascular Clinic and International Cooperation Department.

The Special Forces Commander, Major General Ahmed Rashad Donia, hosted Minister Stefanović and the MOD delegation on their visit to Task Force 777, which is one of the Egyptian Armed Forces’ elite units. On this occasion, the Egyptian Special Forces demonstrated the elements of their combat training, as well as the modern weapons and equipment they use.