Germany and Egypt have a shared interest in the peaceful settlement of regional conflicts. The two countries work together in the Munich format on the Middle East peace process and in the Berlin Process on Libya.

Germany is engaged in many different ways in Egypt, working to promote trade and business but also human rights and cooperation with civil society. Egypt is a priority country for German development policy and for cultural relations and education policy.

In 2022, German-Egyptian bilateral trade totalled 5.3 billion US dollars. Following a sharp decline in the number of German tourist trips to Egypt during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the number of German entries to the country rose substantially in 2022, to about 1.5 million. This meant that Germans were again the largest group of foreign tourists to Egypt in 2022, as they were prior to the pandemic.

With 1.6 billion euro in loans and subsidies, Egypt is one of the largest partner countries of German development cooperation. Support focuses on the following areas: employment to foster sustainable economic development, including development of the private sector, the water sector and waste management, and renewable energy and energy efficiency. In addition, Germany provides funding for projects including the construction of primary schools, efforts to improve the status of women and girls, administrative reform and district development.

The seven German Schools in Egypt are attended by some 4000 pupils. The Goethe-Institut branches in Cairo and Alexandria not only offer extensive language and education programmes, but also organise numerous events. Some 19,000 people are either studying German or training to be German teachers at one of the 36 Egyptian universities offering German, or are learning German as a foreign language parallel to their studies. They are assisted by lectors of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). It is estimated that some 400,000 people are learning the language. The German Archaeological Institute is carrying out numerous excavations as well as restoration projects – Islamic monuments in Historic Cairo, for example.

In the academic sector, four German universities and research institutes maintain offices in Egypt, while the DAAD also has a branch office in the country. In addition, Germany supports the German University in Cairo and the German International University.