Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and his Somali counterpart Hamza Abdi Barre co-chaired a session of talks on Monday to discuss means of fostering bilateral cooperation in various fields.
Egypt’s Minister of Awqaf Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa, Minister of International Cooperation Rania el Mashat, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Mohamed Ayman Ashour, Minister of Culture Nevine el Kilany, and Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Mohamed el Badry participated in the talks.
The talks were also attended by Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abshir Omar Jama, Minister of Education and Higher Education Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Daud Aweis Jama, Somali Ambassador to Egypt Ilyas Sheikh Omar Abubakar, in addition to a number of other Somali officials.
Madbouli highlighted high-level communication between the two countries last year, including Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s visit to Egypt in July 2022, a phone call between the two countries’ presidents in September 2022, as well as the Somali leader’s meeting with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on the fringes of the latest Arab Summit in Algeria.
The Egyptian premier also pointed out to his own participation in the inauguration ceremony of the Somali president in June 2022.
Madbouli emphasized the importance of building on the positive momentum in bilateral relations.
Egypt closely follows up political developments in Somalia, Madbouli said, expressing the Egyptian State’s solidarity with Somalia in the challenges it is facing, especially as regards living conditions in the country amid the acute drought crisis and its efforts to combat terrorism.
He also touched on the aid recently sent by Egypt to Somalia including medical and food assistance .
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said Somalia is having promising opportunities at the trade and investment levels, especially in the fields of agriculture as well as animal and fish production, which he noted opens up opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in these fields.
Madbouli added that the Egyptian contracting sector has great experience in the fields of reconstruction and infrastructure projects given its strong presence not only in the Middle East but in a large number of African countries as well.
In this regard, the prime minister stressed the Egyptian State’s keenness to have a strong presence in the contracting sector in Somalia in the coming stage.
He also talked about ways to boost diplomatic cooperation between the two countries, in addition to Egypt’s close follow-up of the latest developments related to revitalizing the role of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) .
Source: State Information Service Egypt