The French defence industrialists who will participate in the Egypt Defence Expo 2021 (EDEX) in New Cairo from 29 November to 2 December are busy preparing for the show. To bring them up to speed on the event, the French trade association GICAT, which is overseeing the French pavilion, organised a conference on 18 November on its premises to present the situation in Egypt and the wider region.
Colonel Thierry Gilistro took part in the gathering as a keynote speaker. With his in-depth knowledge of security issues in North Africa and the Middle East - he was the French defence attaché in Egypt and then in Libya - he has been advising Dassault Aviation since 2019 and facilitated the negotiations for the sale of 30 additional Rafales to the Egyptian Air Force - a landmark contract that has just come into effect.
Since the diplomatic reconciliation between presidents Emmanuel Macron and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the end of 2020, defence cooperation with Cairo has become a priority for Paris (AI, 01/10/21). Among the 30 or so French companies that will be represented at EDEX are Airbus Group, Arquus, Nexter, MBDA, Dassault, Thales and Safran.