Aclimandos: AmCham played key role to the return of Cairo-Washington harmony

Anis Aclimandos, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo, expressed his happiness over the period he spent in the presidency of the American Chamber over the past four years, which began in May 2013.

He stressed that this period represented an important transition period in Egypt’s history;the most important of which is the departure of the Muslim Brotherhood.

During the final meeting of the Door-Knocking delegation that was visiting the United States, he said that this delegation is the last mission he will chair, after spending four years in the presidency of the chamber.

He pointed out that the American Chamber over the past years succeeded in being an honest spokesman in the name of the Egyptian private sector to the American public opinion and corrected many of their misconceptions, especially regarding the current situation as political and economic changes in Egypt.

He pointed out that he faced some problems during the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in terms of his election as a Chairman of the Chamber due to a number of factors. He faced these problems with the support of his colleagues in the chamber and refused to intervene in the decision-making mechanism or directing the activity of the American Chamber to serve certain objectives. He also rejected all forms of discrimination that was followed by the group in accordance with religion and belonging and ideology.

He added that he had encountered in his presidency of the American Chamber many difficulties related to the strategic changes witnessed in Egypt, and the problems that broke out with the former US administration in this regard. Yet, he worked to restore harmony in relations between Cairo and Washington, and tried to draw a true image of Egypt among the American circles to convey what is happening in Egypt.

He stressed that the next stage will witness a great development in the form and nature of the Egyptian-American relations after the U.S. administration described Egypt as a strategic ally instead of the term partner which it used to describe Egypt over the past years.