EGYPT, April 28, 2009. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit the chairman of Egyptian delegation to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ministerial meeting due to be held in Cuba on Wednesday and Thursday asserted during his statements on 26/4/2009 that the choice of Egypt to the presidency of NAM reflects the international community's confidence in the Egyptian diplomacy and the respect enjoyed by Egypt on the international scene, as a result of its balanced stances and efforts for decades to achieve security and stability in the Middle East and the world.

This is the last NAM ministerial meeting before Cuba hands over NAM's chairmanship to Egypt.

Egypt will chair the movement until 2011.

Abul-Gheit told diplomatic reporters Sunday that the meeting will endorse a document which will represent the basis for the Sharm el-Sheikh summit to be held in July 2009.

NAM is made up of 188 developing countries and aims to represent the political, economic and cultural interests of the developing world.

The NAM traces its origins to a meeting in 1955 of 29 Asian and African countries at which heads of state discussed common concerns, including colonialism and the influence of the West.

During the NAM ministerial meeting, Abul-Gheit will expound the strategies Egypt, as the new NAM chair, will adopt to promote the movement's role at the international level.

Abul-Gheit said Egypt will focus on ways of dealing with the global economic crisis and its impact on developing states alongside human rights issues and the dialogue among civilizations.

Egypt will also handle various political, security, social and cultural issues, he added.

Abul-Gheit said NAM is an important framework for coordinating stances of various developing countries vis-a-vis political and economic issues on the United Nations agenda.

Chairing NAM will offer a chance to Egypt to play a more vital role in serving developing states' interests and highlighting their priorities at international forums, Abul-Gheit said.

Abul-Gheit said he intends to hold several tete-a-tete meetings with foreign ministers of developing states taking part in the NAM ministerial meeting on means of activating the movement's role and giving a fillip to cooperation between Egypt and these countries.(Cubaminrex- Egypt State Information Service)