No visa sanctions imposed on Pakistanis, says Egyptian envoy

ISLAMABAD: Egypt’s Ambassador to Pakistan Ahmed Fadel Yacoub on Friday categorically denied local media reports that his country had imposed visa sanctions on Pakistan.

“It is not true at all that our embassy in Islamabad is not issuing visas to Pakistanis. There are no restrictions on Pakistanis to visit Egypt. They are welcome to visit for any purpose, including tourism, business, study and anything,” the Egyptian envoy told Arab News.

He said his country took great pride in hosting tourists from across the world, adding that the embassy issued more than 4000 visas to Pakistani citizens in 2019.

“Last year, we issued over 4000 visas to ordinary Pakistanis, most of them for tourism. The number excludes official visas or travel permits issued to diplomats and members of various delegations,” he continued.

Much like other countries, the envoy added, certain procedures were also followed by the Egyptian authorities before the issuance of visa.

“Usually it doesn’t take more than six weeks from the application date to complete these procedures and, in some cases where the documents are complete, the visa is even issued in two weeks. Sometimes it gets delayed due to incomplete documents,” Yacoub said.

He informed that a group of 83 Pakistanis left for Egypt last week after securing tourist visas. This, he maintained, was a standard practice since the embassy regularly received applications from large groups of Pakistanis seeking to visit the Arab state for different purposes.

“There are many people who want to visit Egypt’s cultural sites since the country has a rich and diverse history. It has its Islamic heritage, ancient history and modern beaches,” he said.

Responding to a question during a news briefing in Islamabad on January 17 regarding the alleged visa sanctions on Pakistan by Egyptian authorities, foreign office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui had also negated that any such restrictions were in place.

Asked about the bilateral ties between Pakistan and Egypt, the ambassador said the relations between both countries were good and gaining strength with each passing day. He maintained that both sides had always cooperated in diverse fields, adding that two very important business delegations from Egypt had recently visited Pakistan to explore investment opportunities.

“We received two very important business delegations from Egypt recently which included representatives of many big companies. One of them was an Egyptian billionaire, Naguib Sawiris, who has already invested in Pakistan but wanted to discuss new investment projects with relevant authorities,” he said.

Yacoub said any business between the two countries or their private sector companies was always supported by his embassy. He added it could either be a joint venture or an initiative taken by individual companies. Either way, he noted, it benefited the people of the two countries, making his diplomatic mission work diligently to enhance bilateral investment between Pakistan and Egypt.

“The Egyptian company El Sewedy Electric has expressed its intention of investing $500 million in Pakistan’s energy sector and has already completed the feasibility study in this regard. It is one of the largest Egyptian companies that has investment in many countries,” he said.

The envoy noted that there was a huge potential for trade and investment between the two countries.

“We encourage business associations in Pakistan, especially the chambers of commerce, to organize business trips to Egypt. The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce already intends to send a delegation to Egypt during the next few weeks,” he said.