President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is keen on fostering mutual cooperation with Somalia and providing the sisterly African nation with all forms of support, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli stressed on Monday 16/8/2021.
Madbouli made the remarks during an expanded session of talks he co-chaired earlier today with his Somali counterpart Mohamed Hussein Roble at the Cabinet premises in Cairo, in the presence of the ministers of foreign affairs, education, higher education and scientific research.
A host of senior officials from both countries were also present at the session.
Welcoming the Somali premier and his accompanying delegation, which included the Somali minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation and the minister of education, higher education and culture, Madbouli said he looks forward to working with Somali officials to push forward bilateral ties in various areas, especially at the economic and commercial levels.
Madbouli also commended the positive steps recently taken by Somalia to support these ties, topped by the appointment of a Somali ambassador in Cairo, resuming an Egyptian education mission to Somalia and allocating a piece of land for establishing the Egyptian embassy in Mogadishu, which now hosts a branch of Banque Misr – one of the largest and most prominent Egyptian banks.
He also emphasized Egypt’s commitment to preserving stability in Somalia, hailing the Somali premier’s efforts to achieve national conciliation and welcoming a recent agreement between political leaders in Somalia on a framework for long-delayed parliamentary and presidential elections.
Meanwhile, the Somali prime minister praised the deeply-rooted ties between both countries, voicing hope for increasing exchanged visits at the economic and political levels, and operating EgyptAir flights to the Somali capital to facilitate the movement of people and goods between both nations.
Towards the end of the session, Madbouli said that Egypt is now considering a step to increase the number of scholarships offered to Somali students to 400 scholarships on an annual basis.
Muqdisho-Somalia
