Egypt and Cyprus held on Saturday the first meeting of their higher joint government committee in Cairo, a sign of strengthening ties between the two Mediterranean nations.
The committee meeting followed summit talks between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, who arrived in the Egyptian capital earlier.
The Egyptian leader welcomed the Cypriot president and his accompanying delegation, describing Egypt as their ‘second home’.
President Sisi highlighted the importance of capitalising on the major capabilities of Egypt and Cyprus with the aim of serving their shared interests.
Co-operation between the two countries, the Egyptian president said, is a model for regional co-operation.
The president said Cairo and Nicosia are keen on elevating the general framework of their bilateral relations by launching their joint higher committee meetings at the presidential level.
“I believe inaugurating the joint higher committee, which comes at a vital timing, will have a positive impact on the overall relations between the two countries,” President Sisi said during his speech at the press conference.
“This reflects the presence of strong interests in the two countries for pushing relations between them to an advanced stage,” President Sisi said.
“It also reflects the two countries’ desire to set in motion and upgrade existing projects between them and opening up new fields for co-operation,” he added.
President Sisi expressed appreciation for the close historical relations between the two countries, adding that he is proud of the “work that has been done in the framework of strengthening co-operation and relations” between the two countries over the past years, noting that relations between Egypt and Cyprus reached an unprecedented advanced stage.
President Anastasiades, for his part, said he was happy to be in Cairo again. He also stressed his country’s keenness on promoting strategic relations with Egypt.
He said the peoples of Egypt and Cyprus are bound together by a large number of connections.
“We are keen to enhance these relations and elevate them in all fields in the coming period,” the Cypriot leader said.
He added that the launch of the joint higher committee of the two countries at the presidential level would be yet a new step on the road to strengthening the strategic partnership between the two friendly states.
This partnership, he added, has become a cornerstone of regional stability.
He added that the joint committee of the two countries would help them maximise benefit from their capabilities and bilateral relations.
“It will also add new activity to fruitful co-operation between the two countries in all fields,” President Anastasiades said.
Discussions during the joint committee meeting focused on all aspects of bilateral co-operation in the fields of renewable energy, security, defence, agriculture, tourism, culture, fish farming and transport.
The two sides underscored the importance of speeding up the implementation of the pipeline that will connect Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus with Egyptian liquefaction plants in Edku and Damietta in preparation for exporting Cypriot gas to Europe.
The two sides also discussed means of raising their trade and investment exchange and co-operation between their business communities.
They also discussed co-operation in the fields of higher education and scientific research.
The Egyptian and Cypriot leaders said the launch of the joint committee meetings at the presidential level opens a new chapter on the road to enhancing co-operation between their countries and moving ahead with integration.
They called for translating the presence of a strong political will in the two countries for forging stronger relations in the coming period into specific projects and programmes that serve the interests of both countries in all economic and vital fields.
The two leaders pledged to remove all executive and technical obstacles on the road to cementing their relations and serving the interests of the peoples of their two countries.
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