Windhoek — The outgoing Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt on Friday praised the Namibian people for their support for the Palestinian cause.

Ambassador Mohamed hadi Mostafa el Tonsi addressed a large contingent of foreign ambassadors, diplomats and Namibian government officials on the eve of his departure after four years in the country.

The occasion was the Egyptian National Day, anniversary of the (July 23, 1952) revolution of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

"This anniversary in particular has an additional personal significance for me, being the last one in my four-year assignment as Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Namibia. Let me briefly refer to the history of bilateral relations, which started early in the 1950s and 60s as the Egyptian Government chose to make the liberation of Africa one of its main goals, and Cairo was the home of Africa's liberation movements by hosting and training of Africa freedom fighters, and supplying them with arms and ammunition," the ambassador said.

According to him, his country and Namibia have a long-standing and historic relationship, through which Egypt hosted the first Swapo Office in Ahmed Heshmet St.

Zamalek, Cairo, forming in Egypt the 1st Swapo military battalion. Egypt continued with military and diplomatic support until the independence of Namibia was realised.

"After Independen-ce, the second phase of the Egyptian support to Namibia began in the form of a strong technical cooperation seconding 300 experts by the end of 2009 and receiving around 250 trainees that helped in capacity building of Namibia, and with an increase in the number of Egyptian experts in Namibia in the last few years.

This technical cooperation included various fields, mainly in medicine, engineering, education, agriculture, police, defence, legal affairs, media and information in addition to diplomacy," he said.

Mohamed hadi Mostafa el Tonsi also informed those present that three diplomatic courses were held in Namibia, where in the last course alone, a top Egyptian diplomat instructed as many as 170 Namibian officials on organising conferences, prior to Namibia holding a successful Middle Income Conference in 2008.

"Moreover, during the last four years, from 2006 to 2010, Egyptian-Namibian ties have been strengthened as Namibia established its Embassy in Cairo in 2007, the only Embassy in the Middle East, and as the first Namibian Ambassador to Egypt assumed his duties in April 2008. In April 2009, the Egyptian Namibian 4th Joint Committee was held in Namibia. Memoranda of Understanding have been signed between the two sides in the areas of minerals and education," he revealed.

Agreements were signed for cooperation on energy, finance, tourism, trade, investments, transportation, and empowerment of women, sports and culture.

Currently, preparations are being made to organise 60 tailor-made courses for 63 Namibian participants in the field of defence and eight tailor-made courses for 40 Namibian officials in the field of education and IT.

"In the area of economic relations, Egyptian Telecell Globe, one of the companies of the leading Egyptian Orascom Group, has made an investment in Namibia for an acquisition of Cell One (later renamed leo), worth N$600 million, and amounting to N$1.5 billion in a few years, making Egyptian investment one of the biggest FDI in Namibia.

In addition, the Abdel-Warith Group is supervising an irrigation project in the north of Namibia with a contract worth N$40 million.

"During the last four years Egypt also hosted a number of conferences with top-level Namibian participation, among them the summits of the African Union, the First Ladies Summit for Combating HIV (AIDS), the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Sharm El Sheikh, and Egypt co-organized the Africa-France Summit. In all these conferences many important issues had been deliberated, among which are opportunities and challenges facing African nations, and nations of the Non-Aligned Movement strive to make the necessary transition to developed status. In addition, several ministerial specialised meetings have been held in Egypt, including meetings of the African Ministers of Trade, African Ministers of Energy, the Arab-African Ministers of Agriculture, and the Non-Aligned Movement Ministers of Health."

He said one of the cultural results of the African Summit to strengthen cultural bonds was Egypt's willingness to broadcast on its Channel Nile TV international African Arts and cultural programmes to all African countries free of charge, once these materials are received from various countries. Additionally, there was a division for African films titled Black Pearl at the Cairo International Film Festival.

"Other cultural activities was the performance made by the Egyptian rock-opera Group, of Dr. Sobhy Bedeir and friends, which they made at the Namibian National Theatre in 2008 and was further broadcast by the two Namibian T.V. channels due to its world-class performance," said the well-known prolific Arabic writer with a novel to his credit.

The government of Egypt responded positively to President Hifikepunye Pohamba's appeal for help in flood stricken areas in 2008 by contributing medical and food donations worth of more than N$725 000.

"One of the areas that needs promotion on our bilateral relations is trade and investments, and the Embassy is trying its level best in this regard and has organised several visits to representatives of two leading Egyptian companies working in the fields of food production and electricity and cables. I am glad to announce that the visits were successful and other follow up visits will be organised," he said.

"As my assignment in Namibia is approaching its end, I would like on this occasion to sincerely thank the Namibian people and Government for their genuinely gene-rous friendship and hospitality. No development of bilateral relations or accomplishment would have been possible without their unwavering efforts, and kind support," he concluded.