bahrainthismonth.com | NOVEMBER 2025 INTERVIEW 20 Diplomatic Bridges Strengthened Egypt’s Ambassador to Bahrain, Her Excellency Riham Khalil, reflects on diplomacy, trade, tourism and culture, marking two years in Manama and previewing November’s Grand Egyptian Museum inauguration beside the Pyramids of Giza. Firstly, could you outline your career path to date, including your previous postings? I’m a proud Egyptian diplomat with 25 years of experience managing bilateral, multilateral and cultural portfolios. I have had the opportunity to serve in diverse roles in Cairo and abroad. During my diplomatic tenure, I served as Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in the United Arab Emirates and as a member of the Egyptian Embassy in the United Kingdom. I have also served in several departments within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, handling dossiers such as economic affairs, climate change and consular assistance, in addition to my work at the Institute of Diplomatic Studies and for some time in crisis management. What are your top three priorities for Egypt– Bahrain relations over the next 12 months, and how will you measure success? This November marks two years since I assumed my duties as the Egyptian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain and I still can’t comprehend how fast the time has passed. These two years have been filled with warmth, hospitality, events, hard work and success. I have focused from day one on boosting our economic and trade ties, hand in hand with our historical fraternal bilateral relations between our two nations. Egypt and Bahrain enjoy close relations characterised by strong political, diplomatic, economic and cultural ties. I was proud to witness this relationship flourish under the leadership of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa. Ongoing coordination between the two leaders is particularly important given the situation in the Middle East and the shared desire to establish lasting peace and security. The visit of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, witnessed fruitful bilateral meetings with His Excellency Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Egyptian officials, in addition to convening the Egyptian-Bahraini business forum, which marked a new road map for economic and trade partnerships and resulted in signing several agreements in various fields to boost our cooperation. Our governments are focusing on enhancing and maximising economic cooperation so that it is reflected in the bilateral trade volume. On the political and multilateral front, Egypt and Bahrain see eye to eye on many issues as we strive to ensure peace, security and stability in the region and beyond. The relations between Cairo and Manama stand as a regional and international role model, characterised by strong intertwined relations between the people of both countries as well as an excellent and functional one on the official levels. Where do you see the greatest potential for bilateral trade and investment growth? There are key sectors with great potential to further strengthen our economic cooperation, including tourism, industrial partnership, food security, green economy, financial cooperation, communications, IT and logistical service. This is matched by a strong mutual will between Cairo and Manama to boost economic ties and investment opportunities, advanced through a very important governmental mechanism. The Egyptian-Bahraini Governmental Committee for Commercial, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, headed by Egypt’s Minister of Finance and Bahrain’s Minister of Finance and National Economy, over the past two years has built a platform for dialogue and created momentum aimed at driving progress in our economic partnership. It has also played a leading role in identifying potential cooperation opportunities across key sectors. Tourism is a huge area of collaboration between Egypt and Bahrain; what are the latest figures in this regard as it continues to grow? Tourism reflects the deep connection between our two brotherly peoples. It is fair to say that both Egyptians and Bahrainis feel at home in each other’s countries as we share the same values and cultural bonds.
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