Egypt’s PM, Iraqi FM discuss bilateral cooperation, upcoming higher joint committee meeting

CAIRO – 12 October 2020: Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli on Monday has discussed bilateral cooperation with Iraq, as well as the Egyptian-Iraqi higher committee set to be held by the end of October, as he met with the Iraqi foreign minister.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein has visited Egypt to discuss cooperation and partnership in all fields. During his visit, he met with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

During the meeting, the prime minister affirmed Egypt’s support to the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi and said Egypt is looking forward to holding the Egyptian-Iraqi higher committee meeting in Iraq soon.

Madbouli and Kadhimi discussed bilateral cooperation, including partnerships with Egyptian contracting companies to participate in reconstruction efforts in Iraq, as well as a project for refining Iraqi oil at Egyptian refineries and labs.

Hussein commented on the formation of the higher joint committee, expecting it to witness agreements on several projects that would serve the interests of both countries.

In September, Egypt's cabinet issued a statement indicating that Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq will establish an electricity linkage and an oil pipeline capitalizing on the outcomes of Egyptian-Jordanian-Iraqi summit that had convened in Amman in August.

“It has been proposed to implement it [the project] with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, to support the exchange of electrical power and take advantage of the different peak times in these countries,” the statement indicated.

“The summit focused on ways to enhance joint trilateral cooperation in various fields between the three countries, notably those pertinent to energy, electricity interconnection, infrastructure and food. It also tackled consultations and coordination on the latest political and security situations in the region and efforts to combat terrorism,” the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

A tripartite meeting for the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq would convene on Tuesday in Cairo, reported Iraqi newspaper Al-Sabaah on Sunday.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Jordanian and Iraqi counterparts, Ayman Safadi and Hussein, respectively, would discuss ways of completing the agreements signed by the leaders of the three countries in Amman last August.

The Iraqi delegation will also meet with Egyptian officials in order to discuss of holding the joint Iraqi-Egyptian committee headed by the prime ministers of the two countries in Baghdad soon, the newspaper reported.

The Iraqi delegation will also meet Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit to tackle the latest developments in the region.

In July, Egypt sent Iraq urgent medical aid, to back the latter’s efforts to face the novel coronavirus.