Minister of Tourism Mamdouh el-Beltagui yesterday met with the new Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Wu Sike to discuss Egyptian-Chinese cooperation ties.

Egypt has successfully weathered several crises thanks to the wise policies of President Hosni Mubarak, bearing in mind our needs for economic development, Minister el-Beltagui said.

The Mubarak era is one of achievements in infrastructure and investment incentives for economic and social development, el-Beltagui said.

The minister expressed hopes for increasing the number of Chinese visitors to Egypt, and invited Chinese media delegations to promote tourism in Egypt.

Both sides agreed on cooperation with the Chinese Cultural Center in Cairo to train Chinese-speaking tour guides.

For his part, the Chinese Ambassador expressed his admiration of the great strides in development in various fields in Egypt, adding that China has benefited much from the Egyptian expertise in tourism.

(from the Egyptian Gasette, Oct 28,2003)