CAIRO: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is scheduled to arrive in Cairo Monday night for a three-day working visit, is bringing with him a formula for development which the Egyptians often refer to as the “Malaysian model”.
The visit to Egypt will focus on the future direction of Malaysia-Egypt bilateral ties, its working mechanism, and also substantive issues including investment, trade financial cooperation as well as economic and education issues.
Najib will make a courtesy call on Egyptian president Mohamed Morsy Tuesday with both leaders expected to witness the signing of a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) between the two countries.
Malaysia’s ambassador to Egypt Datuk Dr Mohd Fakhruddin Abdul Mukhti said Malaysia was very well known among Egyptians as a model for economic progress.
“We are also well-known as we have many students studying in Egypt and even during elections here we find some of the candidates and parties campaigning by promising to develop Egypt so that it can be on par with Malaysia.
“They call this the Malaysian model of economic progress and developmemt,” said Fakhruddin.
There are currently close to 11,000 Malaysians in Egypt, most of them students.
Fakhruddin said bilateral trade between the two countries stands at about RM4bil annually, mostly in the palm oil and gas sectors with Petronas a major foreign investor in Egypt.
Najib will be accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
Also in the Prime Minister’s delegation are Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, the Prime Minister’s Religious Adviser Datuk Abdullah Md Zin, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.
Najib will also meet with Egyptian Prime Minister Dr Hesham Qandil during his stay in Cairo and will depart Wednesday for Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum.
