Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.24
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
South Sinai province of Egypt is ready to accept Azerbaijani investors and provide them with opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation, the provincial governor Khaled Fouda said in Sharm el-Sheikh at a meeting with Azerbaijani journalists.
Tourism, agriculture, culture, sport and youth policy are included in the list of promising areas in which the peninsula is ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan, he said.
The governor considers the tourism sector as a priority for future cooperation.
Tourism in Egypt is comprehensively developed, marine tourism, religious tourism, active tourism are quite popular among the tourists.
Sinai Peninsula, particularly Sharm el-Sheikh, which is one of the major tourist destinations in the world is ready to accept Azerbaijani tourists, and it is planned to open a charter flight for this purpose, which may become a regular flight in the future.
Currently, the Azerbaijani tourists come to Sharm el-Sheikh through Tbilisi via the chartered flight Tbilisi-Sharm El Sheikh-Tbilisi, which creates some problems for the Azerbaijani tourists.
Opening of the direct flight from Baku to Sharm El Sheikh will eliminate these disadvantages.
The initiative for the opening of the flight was made by Egyptian company EgAz tours, which will receive Azerbaijani tourists in Sharm el-Sheikh. The company is ready to provide Azerbaijani tourists with 15 best hotels of the peninsula, including the world famous luxury hotels networks and the budget hotels as well.
The initiative was also supported by the ministry of tourism of Azerbaijan and Egypt. Plans for the opening of the flight and provision of services to the Azerbaijani tourists were discussed at a meeting of representatives of the ministries of tourism of the two countries in August 2014 during the visit of the delegation of the ministry of culture and tourism of Azerbaijan to Egypt.
The governor of South Sinai Peninsula also guarantees the safety to all the tourists wishing to visit the region.
"The situation on the peninsula is calm and stable and is under the control of law enforcement," said the governor. "There is no threat to the safety of tourists."
Azerbaijan is ready to develop cooperation with Egypt and the opening of a direct flight can make an important contribution to the development of cooperation, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Egypt Shahin Abdullayev said.
He went on to add that the political cooperation between the two countries is at a good level. Creation of economic relations between Azerbaijan and the peninsula can be mutually beneficial for both sides, he said.
It is planned to sign an agreement of Sharm el-Sheikh and Gabala becoming twin cities.
"The opening of flight between Sharm el-Sheikh and Baku may also contribute to the expansion of economic ties between the peninsula and Azerbaijan," said Fouda.
The governor went on to add that there are many areas where the business people of the two countries can mutually cooperate.
The head of the region intends to discuss the opportunities for future cooperation in January 2015 during an official visit to Azerbaijan.
"Representatives of major Egyptian companies will go to Baku with me, who will meet with their Azerbaijani colleagues and discuss the prospects of business relations," said the governor.
"We expect interesting business proposals from the Azerbaijani side," he said.
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