CAIRO — Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi recently issued directives to accelerate cooperation with Danish shipping giant Maersk to produce green energy and clean fuels for ships.

The directives came during Sisi’s meeting Sept. 19 with Maersk CEO Soren Skou. The two discussed a project to produce clean fuel for ships in Egypt with investments worth $15 billion, which will provide more than 100,000 job opportunities for Egyptians.

A statement published by the Egyptian presidency following the meeting said that “cooperation with Maersk to produce green and clean fuel for ships comes in line with the state's efforts to diversify energy sources and shift to a clean energy and preserve environment. It also comes in light of the modern ports Egypt has now established along the coasts of the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea, as well as the Suez Canal waterway, the main lifeline of international trade.” 

The meeting comes as Egypt gears up to host the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Climate Convention (COP27), which will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh in November.