Egypt to cut costs by reducing number of embassies abroad

The Egyptian government is planning to cut expenditure by reducing the number of Egyptian diplomatic missions abroad, a cabinet source told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Sunday.

The source, who requested anonymity, said the plans would be completed within the next few days, and that Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmy is in the process of preparing guidelines for their implementation.

The same source said that the move follows on from a study revealing that Egypt has the largest number of foreign diplomatic missions of any nation, currently standing at 170 worldwide, compared to 90 US embassies.

The step is part of a government effort to reduce expenditure in light of the budget deficit, which reached LE134.3 billion during the fiscal year 2011/2012. It is hoped that the reduction in diplomatic missions will save the nation several billion Egyptian pounds annually.

It is expected that in those states with which Egypt does not enjoy strong political or economic ties, embassies will be replaced with representative offices. The government is also considering merging embassies into single entities serving specific regions, such as South America and parts of Asia.

Selmy is expected to conveve with newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Kamel to discuss the planned measures.