Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed on Monday that his country passed a difficult period from 2011 to 2013 due to the decline in the cash reserves that were exhausted from importing fuel products.

He thanked Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait for aiding Egypt in overcoming the challenges.

“Without the support of our brethren in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Egypt would not have stood up again,” he told the World Government Summit in Dubai that was attended by both UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Sisi remarked that some believed that the Egyptians would not be able to stand firm, but they have endured difficult circumstances and spent efforts to build their country in recent years.

He added that “terrorism in Egypt has become history” after its eradication, noting that his country has achieved a great renaissance in several fields.

Egypt has managed to overcome a major electricity crisis and is now able to achieve electrical interconnection with Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Greece.

Moreover, Sisi stressed that the construction of the new administrative capital helped to raising the price of real estate, noting that Egypt is building 24 smart cities to accommodate its growing population.

He noted that Egypt faced “total chaos” in 2011 at a time when the state was being confronted with threats to the country.

“The people demanded change in 2013 and we later witnessed the bombing of schools, churches, mosques and infrastructure,” he added.

The Egyptians were consequently confronted with despair. Their country faced several “fateful challenges” since 2011, most notably the state of chaos that cost it 450 billion dollars, Sisi said.

He blamed the chaos on conspiracies that were plotted by enemies of the state, which managed to defeat them and forge ahead towards development.