The Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), European Islamic Countries and Newly-Independent Countries 1993 – 2005 Egypt has always been keen on strengthening its relations with all countries, and establishing relations based on mutual respect and peaceful coexistence. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Egypt has been keen on following up this crucial event. The dissolution resulted in a change of balances, as well as regional and international blocs, and the formation of the Commonwealth Independent States, consisting of 12 countries, which are: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Egypt's concern with establishing relations with these countries was embodied through issuing a Presidential decree in late 1992 for the foundation of the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was modified in 1995 to include technical cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania. Macedonia and Mongolia joined later on in 1997, and finally Afghanistan joined in 2005. The Fund is considered one of the mechanisms of executing Egypt's foreign policy and its role in supporting and strengthening the Egyptian bilateral relations with these countries. The Fund is affiliated to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and chaired by the Foreign Minister, who sets the Fund's general policy and directions, but it is directly run by one of the ambassadors in the Ministry, as a Secretary-General for the Fund. Since the establishment of the Fund, the Secretariat has always been keen on playing an important role in promoting and consolidating relations with the countries of this region. It will also be one of the Egyptian Ministry's constructive tools in asserting Egypt's axial and pioneering role on the regional and international levels, which are based on calling for peace, and the right of nations in achieving development, welfare, and prosperity. Historically, the Commonwealth countries -at the time of the Soviet Union- adopted many stances supporting Egyptian and Arab issues, and this helped in activating the role of the Fund. Egypt also had profound cultural relations with the Soviet Union, through offering scholarships to Egyptian scholars, teaching them the Russian language, receiving Russian experts who participated in the construction of the High Dam, and offering military expertise. There are still families living and coexisting in Egypt who have origins going back to this region, such as the large Armenian Community.  Also the Egyptians have read the works of Imam Bukhari, who is from Samarqand in Uzbekistan, Imam Al Tormozy and the great scientist Al Faraby, which affirms the continuous cultural connection with these countries. All these elements created a profound mutual understanding as well as positive interactions with these countries that motivated the Fund to carry on the existing relations, and to establish several communication channels with the countries of this region. The Secretariat of the Fund worked on implementing a multi-axial policy to provide the Commonwealth countries with technical assistance. The policy at first comprised two main axes, the first is organizing training courses for the cadres of these countries, and the second is dispatching Egyptian experts, according to the needs of these countries, in order to transfer Egyptian technical expertise. Later on, the Secretariat started to widen the scope of its work, and improve its performance, through adding several axes to the Fund’s policy, to provide various aspects of assistance to build the infrastructure of these countries, and to enable them to face the economic, social and cultural conditions. On the occasion of the 14th Anniversary of establishing the Fund, the Secretariat decided to issue an overview of the various axes of the policy which serve the objectives of the Fund. This overview crystallizes the objective of establishing the Fund and the means of achieving its goals. The First Axis: This axis includes organizing and holding training courses for the cadres of the Commonwealth countries to transfer the Egyptian technical expertise to the trainees in the needed fields according to the following principles: 1. Setting an annual plan governed by the actual needs of the countries, after conducting a selective scientific study on their priorities, taking into consideration the variations in needs and achieved development in these countries. The plan is governed by qualitative rather than quantitative measures. 2. Organizing separate training courses for Bosnian and Albanian cadres, as there are variations in these countries levels as well as their languages. 3. Offering eminent experience in the agreed upon fields to augment the benefit of the deployment of experts. The Second Axis: This axis includes dispatching several Egyptian experts to train the cadres of the Commonwealth countries, or to work in parallel with these cadres for specific periods to transfer expertise. The Third Axis: In 1996 the Secretariat began to adopt a more comprehensive policy which viewed the need to activate the role of the Fund, and to benefit from the potentials of the international institutions and organizations in order to promote relations with the Commonwealth countries. This policy included the principle of trilateral cooperation, the Fund conducted the needed contacts and meetings with officials from the various UN bodies, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Secretariat also contacted the institutions of the Donor Countries which offer assistance to the developing countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, and Italy. Furthermore, the policy sought promoting and strengthening cooperation and carrying out joint finance between the Fund and several Egyptian ministries and institutions. The Secretariat was keen on benefiting from the Understanding Memorandum, signed between the Secretariat of the Fund and the Islamic Bank for Development (IDB) in 9 August 1994. By 1997, it was agreed that the bank will finance a number of training courses offered by the Fund, and will cover the expenses of dispatching Egyptian experts to the Commonwealth countries. The Fourth Axis: This axis includes offering humanitarian assistance to the Commonwealth countries in response to the appeals of the UN bodies. The Fund offered humanitarian assistance to Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Bosnia. The assistance included food and medical aids from the various donations of several Egyptian institutions, while the Fund covered the shipping expenses. The policy focused on highlighting the media coverage of the ceremonies where the assistance is offered in order to affirm the Egyptian support to the Commonwealth countries. Noteworthy is that the Fund is considered as a focal point, to what is offered by the different Egyptian institutions to Bosnia, which obtained a lot of support after its long suffering. The Fund was keen on playing a role in Bosnia reconstruction plan by financing the restoration, and building schools and hospitals in Sarajevo. The Fifth Axis: This axis includes Egypt’s representation in all the meetings of the Donor Countries concerned with the countries of the Commonwealth and Bosnia through the participation of the Fund secretariat in these meetings. The meetings are a good opportunity to get to know what the international community offers to these countries ,as well as making them aware of Egypt's role and the aids that have been presented .The Fund secretariat also  participated in the meetings of most of the Commonwealth Countries such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Sixth Axis: The Secretariat of the Fund was keen on actively participating in the common Egyptian committees with the countries of the Commonwealth and on following up the agreements signed to overcome all the obstacles that might hinder their implementation. The Secretariat also stressed on the importance of including the role of the Fund in strengthening and promoting the bilateral relations between Egypt and the Commonwealth countries in all of the issued statements and the Final Declaration of these committees. The Seventh Axis: The Secretariat started implementing new techniques ever since 1997 to enhance the bilateral relations between Egypt and the Commonwealth countries, by inviting a number of delegations from the foreign ministries of these countries to visit Egypt in 1997 and the beginning of the year 2005. Also, several media delegations were invited to visit Egypt and to meet with the Egyptian officials to exchange opinions on all of the bilateral issues. The Eighth Axis: The General Secretariat paid considerable attention to the economic dimension of the bilateral relations between Egypt and these countries because of the importance of increasing trade exchange and opening new mutual markets. This concern has been embodied in the following: 1. The keenness of the Secretariat on informing the Egyptian companies and the Egyptian businessmen about the opportunities available in these countries’ markets. 2. The coordination between the Egyptian pharmaceutical companies and Commonwealth countries to create an opportunity for registering the Egyptian medicine in these countries and opening markets for it there. 3. Facilitating the procedures of holding Egyptian exhibitions in these countries, as well as coordinating with the various Egyptian institutions to open the door before these countries to participate in the Egyptian exhibitions. 4. Contributing to the visits of these countries’ delegations to the different Egyptian institutions such as the Ministries of Health, Culture, and the Council of Youth and Sports. 5. The Secretariat was keen on taking part in financing a number of international scientific and cultural conferences held in Egypt. This was done through paying for hosting delegations of Commonwealth countries in order to participate in these conferences. 6. Taking part in the international seminars held in the Commonwealth countries, and making sure that Egypt has an active representation in these seminars as well as presenting relevant required research, such as participating in the seminar held in Turkmenistan on Central Asia and the one held in Japan on the same group of countries. 7. The efforts of the Secretariat include making contacts on the official and governmental levels, as well as the private sector, to organize a conference to discuss the means to overcome any obstacles hindering the economic relations between Egypt and the six Islamic countries of the Commonwealth, which share the same economic atmosphere. This conference is expected to provide officials with an opportunity to meet and identify the various difficulties as well as to find convenient solutions to enhance the relations. The Secretariat was successful in achieving a great balance and activating its role through the training programs offered to the countries of the region and this led to strengthening and prompting the bilateral relations with those countries.