On Monday, May 17, 2010, Mayor of Košice, František Knapík, received the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Egyptian Republic to Slovakia, H.E. Hassan H. El-Laithy. During his official visit to Košice, the Egyptian diplomat visited the city and attended the VI. Ecumenical Concert of Sacral Songs held in the State Theatre. “It was a very impressive event where the attendees showed a good will to live and pray together regardless of their status or religion. This only proves that Košice is the right city to become the 2013 European Capital of Culture,” said the Ambassador at the meeting with the Mayor.
In conversation with František Knapík, the Ambassador expressed interest in developing cooperation in several areas and admitted the possibility of founding Slovak-Egyptian companies. As he said, the cooperation could unfold through the small community of Egyptian citizens living in Košice. As the main areas of cooperation he mentioned wood processing and production of furniture, water management – use of expertise and knowledge of experts in Kosice, and tourism because of good experience of the Egyptian destinations with Slovak tourists. As a very effective tool for establishing cooperation he considers creation of the Egyptian – Slovak Council for Economic and Cultural Cooperation that would have support of the city and of businessmen, cultural institutions, and industrial chambers from both countries.
Mayor Knapík expressed his willingness to support suggestions of the Egyptian Ambassador as he replied “All suggested areas are attractive for the city. In the first phase we will actively work with the Egyptian Embassy to prepare the background and networking for successful cooperation”.
