Egypt's FM, Italy's Conte discuss situation in Libya

CAIRO - 6 December 2019: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Thursday met with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Rome, where they discussed regional issues, mainly updates in Libya..

Shoukry conveyed the greetings of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Conte.

The meeting discussed the bilateral political and economic relations between the two countries, and ways to foster these historic ties.

Shoukry discussed on Thursday the latest updates regarding Libya’s political conflict also with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome.

During their meeting, they discussed means of boosting bilateral ties in different fields, as well as regional and international issues of common concern.

Shoukry lauded the long-standing ties with Italy, stressing the need to build on the current momentum in the two countries' relations, Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Ahmed Hafez said.

Shoukry also stressed Egypt's keenness to promote joint action with Italy to achieve the aspirations of the two countries' peoples, in addition to addressing common challenges, the spokesman added.

With regard to the killing of Italian student Giulio Regeni, Shoukry and Di Maio agreed on continuing the existing cooperation between the Egyptian and Italian judicial bodies in this issue, according to the spokesman.

The two sides discussed ways of elevating economic ties to higher levels, given that Italy is considered a key European partner for Egypt and one of most important markets for Egyptian exports, the spokesman noted.

Shoukry stressed the importance of implementing a debt swap program, which in turn could provide new opportunities for development cooperation between the two countries, the spokesman said.

Egypt looks forward to cementing cooperation with Italy in energy field, especially the natural gas, the spokesman quoted Shoukry as saying.

Shoukry and Di Maio also exchanged views on the latest regional developments, notably the Syrian crisis, the Palestinian cause and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue.