Egypt State Information Service (Cairo)
Egyptian Ambassador to Ethiopia Abu Bakr Hefny has praised relations with Ethiopia and Sudan as strategic and multidimensional.
In statements on Tuesday 30/1/2018, the Egyptian diplomat called for linking the interests of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to become “one economic bloc”, pointing out to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s call for maintaining the common interests of the three countries.
The ambassador also pointed out to investment projects Egyptian businessmen intend to carry out in Ethiopia including El Sewedy company’s offer to establish an Egyptian industrial zone in there with investments estimated at 120 million dollars along with other agricultural and pharmaceutical projects proposed during the recent visit to Cairo by the Ethiopian prime minister.
Egyptian Ambassador to Ethiopia Abu Bakr Hefny revealed an Egyptian plan to establish a solar power plant and a fertilizer factory in Ethiopia.
“Egypt also plans to increase its exports of pharmaceutical products to Ethiopia in the coming period,” Hefny said.
He added that the Egyptian government has launched a number of programs to boost cooperation with Ethiopia in the medical field.
Hefny pointed out that leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have agreed during their summit in Addis Ababa to form a seven-strong committee from the three countries to solve the issue of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam within a month.
Egypt acknowledges the right of the Ethiopian people to development and high living conditions, he added.
Sisi briefs cabinet on dam discussions with Ethiopia, Sudan
Al-Masry Al-Youm
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held a meeting on Tuesday with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Governor of the Central Bank Tarek Amer, and various cabinet members on Tuesday to provide an overview of the negotiations and discussions held at Monday’s African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia, which sought to move past the stalemate and dissolve the brewing tension between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia regarding the controversial technical issues of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Present at the meeting were the ministers for foreign affairs, the interior, housing, investment, justice, and finance, as well as the Acting-Chief of General Intelligence Service (GIS) and the the Chief of Administrative Control Authority.
Sisi presented a summary of the outcome of the tripartite meeting he held with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegne discussing the dam’s technical issues.
The three countries will form a nine-member committee, including intelligence chiefs of the three countries and ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation, to discuss the consultation office’s initial report, starting from January 29, said Abu Bakr Hefni, the Egyptian ambassador to Ethiopia.
Hefni added, that “the agreement was concluded by the leaders of the three countries. We hope that there will be a solution to all the controversial technical issues [over the next] month.”
Meanwhile, sources said that the three countries’ water and foreign ministries will hold a meeting in Khartoum, Sudan, in February, to carry out hydraulic and environmental studies examining the effects of the dam on Egypt and Sudan.
Sudan affirmed its rejection of participation of the World Bank (WB) in the dam’s negotiations – as offered by Egypt – saying they will offer an alternative proposal within a month, confirmed sources.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
Roads, trains to link Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia
January 31, 2018 at 9:53 am
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have agreed to establish railways and roads to connect them to each other, Khartoum’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour said yesterday.
The presidents of the three countries met on the sidelines of the 28th ordinary AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday where they “agreed to establish railways and roads connecting the three countries,” Ghandour said in a press statement.
They also agreed to establish a joint financial fund to support these projects, he added.
Remarking on the talks regarding Ethiopia’s dam, Ghandour said a joint political, security and technical committee which includes the ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation, as well as directors of the security and intelligence services from the three countries will be formed in order to provide technical studies for the heads of the three countries related to filling the dam’s lake and how it will operate in a way that does not affect Egypt and Sudan’s share of Nile water.
The Sudanese minister said that Khartoum and Cairo have also agreed to form a committee of foreign ministers and security and intelligence chiefs who will meet in Cairo during the next two weeks to discuss all outstanding issues.
“The presidents of the two countries stressed that the relationship between Egypt and Sudan is eternal and must be maintained,” he said.
Source – Middle East Monitor