By Fadi Francis 13 September 2018
He met with Sameh Shukri, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Thursday, with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, at the beginning of his current visit to the Eritrean capital Asmara, to deliver a verbal message from President Sisi addressing the entire range of bilateral relations between the two countries and ways of developing them in all fields.
The meeting was followed by a working lunch organized by Osman Salih, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Eritrea, in honor of the Foreign Minister and his accompanying delegation, in the presence of Yemane Gebreab, the Eritrean political advisor.
Said Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the official spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, the Foreign Minister started the meeting conveying the greetings of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to his brother Afewerki President and his pride in the brotherly relations linked by stressing the depth of historical relations between the two countries and the importance of enhancing them in all fields, as well as Egypt's support for Eritrea In order to restore its effective and estimated role at the African and international levels in light of the positive developments in the Horn of Africa and Eritrea's relations with Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti.
For his part, the Eritrean President stressed his country's pride in the historical relations between the two sides and Egypt's permanent support for Eritrea in various fields. He expressed his hope for the continuation of this support and the momentum of bilateral relations as well as exploiting the opportunities for cooperation between the two sides.
With regard to regional issues, «Abu Zeid» explained that the two sides discussed a number of issues, especially the positive recent developments in the Horn of Africa region, and Egypt's keenness to support stability, security and peace in that region, as well as the importance of strengthening regional cooperation from a global perspective in the interests of everyone, President Afwerki expressed the centrality of the Egyptian role in the Horn of Africa, appreciating Egypt's role in achieving peace and stability in the region.
To meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs with the Eritrean president also touched on the subject of the Red Sea security, and the importance of strengthening cooperation between the riparian countries of the Red Sea as Her Royal main interest in this regard, as well as to discuss the situation in Southern Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, as well as developments in negotiations Renaissance Dam, And the priorities of Egypt's presidency of the African Union next year.
«Abu Zeid» Abizaid that it is important to point out that President Afwerki's visit to Egypt in January 2018 represented a starting point in the bilateral relations point where the past months witnessed the signing of six agreements to enhance cooperation in health, electricity, agriculture and trade fields, referring to Egypt's keenness on building On the current momentum in the relationship between the two countries and explore opportunities for enhancing cooperation in various fields. It is also evidence of the boom in increasing trade exchange between the two countries, the rate of relations markedly over the past months, as well as increasing the number of projects and programs of joint cooperation in various fields, especially in the areas of transfer of expertise and building cadres, in addition to projects in the fisheries and electricity generation and building units fields Residential and Mineral Resources.
(Software translation)
