09 June 2015 – The 9th Philippines-Egypt Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was conducted in Cairo, Egypt from May 18 to 19.
The Philippine delegation was led by Philippine Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, Ambassador Jesus I. Yabes, while the Egyptian delegation was led by Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs and the Affairs of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, Ambassador Yasser Mourad.
The Philippine delegation included representatives from the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, Office of Middle East and African Affairs, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, and the Philippine Embassy in Cairo.
The two sides discussed pending agreements and possible fields of cooperation, such as in skills training and the training of diplomats.
Meetings between the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FECC) and the Tourism Authority were also scheduled to discuss programs to launch the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation between the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the FECC and the Tourism Agreement, which were signed on May 18 during the official visit of Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario.
The Philippines and Egypt will celebrate the 70th anniversary of their bilateral relations next year, and cultural exchanges and tourism promotion are in the pipeline for the commemoration of the milestone year in 2016. END