The European Union and Egypt held in Cairo the first meeting of the Joint Committee established under Egypt’s association with Horizon Europe, alongside the ninth meeting of the EU-Egypt Joint Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation. The meeting marked a key step in the implementation of the association agreement, strengthening the bilateral partnership in research and innovation.
Both parties reaffirmed that research and innovation are among the pillars of the EU-Egypt Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership. Egypt’s association with Horizon Europe opens up new opportunities for collaboration among universities, research organizations, businesses, and public institutions.
To date, Egyptian researchers and organizations are involved in more than 50 Horizon Europe-funded projects and over 120 projects under the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA), confirming the country’s growing engagement in European research and innovation programmes.
The parties also discussed actions needed to further strengthen Egypt’s participation, including enhancing the network of National Contact Points (NCPs), expanding capacity-building activities, increasing private-sector involvement, and improving alignment with national funding programmes.
The meeting also reaffirmed the importance of cooperation within PRIMA, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the EU-African Union Research and Innovation Partnership, as well as the activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), covering areas ranging from research infrastructures to doctoral programmes and technology transfer.