President Karis on visit to Jordan and Egypt

  • 2024-11-04
  • Office of the President of the Republic of Estonia

President Alar Karis is on an official visit to Jordan and Egypt this week, where he will be discussing security concerns in Europe and the Middle East and seeking to align views on Russia’s war against Ukraine. He will also be given an overview of the positions of the countries in the region on how to resolve the Middle East conflict. To promote economic cooperation, the head of state will be accompanied on the visit by a delegation of companies already operating in Jordan and Egypt and those looking for opportunities to expand on these markets.

President Karis says there is significant value in building up mutual understanding and cooperation with partners in the vicinity of the European Union. “When the rules-based world order starts to breaks down, everyone suffers,” he cautioned. “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East pose a serious threat to international security. This makes it all the more necessary to pursue closer ties with countries like Jordan and Egypt in order for us to work together to mitigate such threats.” As part of his visit, the head of state will be visiting the local World Food Programme centre in Amman, to which aid is being sent to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

President Karis’ visit will also focus on bolstering economic relations. “The Jordanian and Egyptian markets offer Estonian entrepreneurs a wide range of opportunities,” the head of state remarked. “Estonia wants to do what it can to deepen economic ties and create opportunities that support the growth of our companies on international markets. These visits to Jordan and Egypt signal our commitment to furthering cooperation so as to help entrepreneurs find mutual business opportunities.”

Today, President Karis will be meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Prime Minister Dr Jafar Hassan in Amman. Tomorrow he is due to open an Estonian-Jordanian business seminar.

On Wednesday and Thursday, President Karis will be making an historic visit to Egypt – the first official visit to the country of an Estonian head of state in three decades. There, he will be meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. In addition, he will be holding meetings with Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church and Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayeb, and welcoming representatives of the political and business scenes in Egypt at a reception hosted by Estonia’s honorary consul in the country, Motaz Raslan.

President Karis’ visit to Jordan and Egypt forms part of Estonia’s efforts to strengthen relations with the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood countries in the Middle East region and to support Estonian businesses on foreign markets so as to expand trade relations and promote investment opportunities.

The head of state is being accompanied on his visit by companies from the IT, defence, health care, financial technology, energy, mining, construction and engineering sectors. On his visit to Jordan, President Karis is being joined by representatives of Eesti Energia, Nortal, Scandinavian Exports, the Admiral Markets Group, Fra Mare Thalasso Spa, Aton Resources, Norvita, the Go Group, Ecomatic, Defsec Intel and Bolt. The delegation visiting Egypt includes representatives of Eesti Energia, the Admiral Markets Group, Norvita, Scandinavian Exports, Bolt, Aton Resources, Ecomatic and the Go Group.

In Jordan, the delegation will be joined by Kaupo Rosin, the director general of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service, while in Egypt it will be joined by Magnus-Valdemar Saar, the director general of the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments. Sandra Särav-Tammus, the Deputy Secretary General for Economy and Innovation at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, will also be taking part in both visits.

President Karis will be arriving back in Estonia late on Friday night.