(from correspondent Diego Decarli) (ANSAmed) - RIVA DEL GARDA (TRENTO), OCTOBER 10 - The Egyptian Minister of Tourism, Zoheir Garranah, said that tourism was no longer just an important factor of economic growth, it also guaranteed political stability in many countries and had the power to strengthen international relations, for example, between the Arab and Western worlds. The Minister was speaking to ANSA outside the International OECD Conference entitled ''The Tourism Economy and Globalisation'' in Riva del Garda. If this concept is applied to Egypt, now a mid-point between the West and the most extremist countries of the Middle East, it gives a sense of the beneficial social effects that capital flows bring to the Arab country and, by consequence, to Europe. And it is Italy that has been in the front line of this development. ''Tourism is a work intensive industry which creates a lot of jobs'', explains Garranah, ''for the Egyptian Government it is an essential tool for guaranteeing political stability and therefore the prosperity of the country''. This is even more important given that Egypt is now the biggest and most important country of the Middle East and North Africa, and obviously the prime interlocutor in dialogue between Italy, the European Union, North Africa and the Middle East. We are a moderate Islamic country and our people can freely profess belonging to other religions, just as in many other countries. There are radicals, but they are under control: Egypt and the Egyptians are moderate''. The minister links this concept to the social and political potential of tourism, which, he explained, ''now contributes 11.3% of Egyptian GDP, which I intend to raise to 18% by the end of my mandate - the industry also provides 12.6% of our jobs in total. Today, Italian tourism makes up 10% of all tourism in Egypt and 71% is from European countries. Overall the flow of European tourists guarantees 8% of our gross national product and this means that our people can find work and create new business opportunities''. The stand-out case of this transformation is Sharm El Sheik. ''Twenty-five years ago there were only 200 hotel rooms there, today there are 50,000 and Italy is amongst the largest contributors to this. In recent years there has been an internal migration linked to the demand for professionals which were not there before. Salaries and wages have raised the quality of life for everyone, creating further social content''. Is there a security problem though? ''There are security problems in all the countries of the world that are affected by tourism, not just Egypt'', said Garranah. He continued: ''there is however a fundamental difference between terrorist attacks and individual crime. What happened recently to some of your fellow Italians is classed in this second category. We are focusing great attention on security, introducing all possible measures to help make it safer to visit Egypt. We are working, above all, on increasing the safety of desert safaris. Our main concern is safeguarding peoples' lives''. Minister Garranah concluded by extending his thanks directly to Italy: ''I want to say thank you to the Italian people, their Government, media, tour operators and people that work in tourism. Your contribution is important to Egypt, both to guarantee tourism in our country and for our cultural profile. One example is the important donation for the restoration of the Alessandria library''. (ANSAmed).