Egypt’s General Authority for Healthcare (GAH) and Serbia have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral cooperation in healthcare, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical tourism and healthcare capacity building.
The agreement was announced during a meeting between Ahmed El-Sobky, Chairperson of the General Authority for Healthcare, and Miroslav Šestović, Serbia’s Ambassador to Egypt, at the authority’s headquarters in Cairo.
The discussions focused on establishing a long-term institutional partnership to promote technology transfer, knowledge exchange, hospital twinning programmes, medical education, nursing and workforce development.
El-Sobky said the two sides had prepared a comprehensive framework for the planned MoU covering priority areas including primary healthcare planning, hospital management, digital transformation, electronic medical records, artificial intelligence applications in healthcare, pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing, technical cooperation and capacity building.
He added that the partnership aims to facilitate medical technology transfer while benefiting from Serbian expertise in rehabilitation services, healthcare delivery and nursing. The initiative also envisages hospital twinning programmes to exchange administrative and clinical best practices.
“The next phase will focus on implementing practical cooperation in medical technology transfer, exchanging expertise, and strengthening partnerships in healthcare education, training and nursing,” El-Sobky said.
During the meeting, El-Sobky reviewed Egypt’s progress in implementing the Universal Health Insurance System, describing it as one of the region’s largest healthcare reform programmes. He noted that the system is currently operational in seven governorates and continues to expand gradually towards nationwide universal health coverage in line with the country’s healthcare reform strategy.
He also highlighted the authority’s efforts to develop the healthcare workforce, noting that it operates more than 20 nursing institutes offering European-accredited educational curricula. He expressed interest in establishing partnerships with Serbian educational and healthcare institutions to further strengthen training and professional development.
El-Sobky also showcased Egypt’s Virtual Hospital in Ismailia, describing it as the first facility of its kind in Egypt and Africa, the third in the Middle East and the largest virtual hospital in the Arab world.
He invited the Serbian ambassador and Serbian medical technology companies to attend the hospital’s inauguration and explore opportunities for cooperation and investment in digital healthcare technologies.
According to El-Sobky, the authority aims to finalise the executive framework for cooperation in the near term ahead of signing the MoU and launching joint projects that would elevate healthcare relations between the two countries to a new level of strategic partnership.
For his part, Ambassador Šestović praised Egypt’s achievements in modernising its healthcare sector and implementing the Universal Health Insurance System, describing the country’s experience as one of Africa’s most advanced healthcare reform models.
He said Egypt serves as a strategic gateway to regional and African markets and expressed Serbia’s interest in expanding cooperation in healthcare services, pharmaceutical production and medical device manufacturing.
The ambassador noted that successful cooperation already exists between Egyptian and Serbian companies in medical technology transfer and expressed hope that these partnerships would expand further in the coming period.
Šestović also said the anticipated free trade agreement between Egypt and Serbia would create broader opportunities for investment and economic cooperation, including in the healthcare sector, stressing the importance of translating the strong bilateral relationship into tangible projects and long-term partnerships.
The meeting concluded with both sides reaffirming their commitment to accelerating preparations for the strategic partnership and implementing joint initiatives to support healthcare development while strengthening economic and institutional cooperation between Egypt and Serbia.
