Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and President Nikos Christodoulides agreed to launch a cooperation forum between the two nations to strengthen their bilateral relations.
Christodoulides chose Egypt for his first official visit outside Europe to focus on enhancing the energy and security alliance between Nicosia and Cairo.
On Wednesday, he met el-Sisi and expressed his determination to boost cooperation between Cyprus and Egypt, especially in energy ties.
The two Presidents also attended expanded talks of their delegations.
Referring to the energy cooperation between Cyprus and Egypt, Christodoulides called the establishment of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum a milestone.
He added that Cyprus would continue to work to upgrade the cooperation of this forum.
They agreed to have the next Cyprus – Egypt intergovernmental conference in September in Nicosia.
“We also look forward to our next common meeting with Greece, while we also exchanged views for the further expansion of these schemes,” said Christodoulides.
Sisi said the two countries enjoy relations of strategic importance and cooperation, while he referred to the substantial reinforcement of the bilateral relations during Nicos Anastasiades’ governance.
“I greatly appreciate that Egypt is your first regional destination following your election as president of your country, which reflects our joint keenness on the distinguished relations between our two countries,” President El-Sisi said in addressing his Cypriot counter at the press conference.
He said they discussed energy issues, the transfer of Cypriot natural gas to LNG plants in Egypt, and the electrical interconnection and green energy.
During the talks, the two countries expressed their will to jointly support the project’s inclusion for their electric interconnection in the list of projects of common interest of the EU.
Moreover, it was agreed to set up a Business Council to enhance the relations between the two countries businesspeople.
Christodoulides on Thursday ends his visit to Egypt with a meeting with the Arab League Secretary General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
