Mubarak's successful visit, set to expand more Egyptian-Spanish cooperation

Egypt's President Mubarak returned home after a three day successful visit to Spain.

The visit opened new horizons of bilateral cooperation in the political, economic and cultural fields.

Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said negotiations between the Egyptian and Spanish sides were characterized by objectivity, frankness and transparency, adding that the President's visit to Spain would turn into a tangible reality in the upcoming stage.

"President Mubarak and Spanish Leaders agreed on the importance of making a close follow up of the agreements reached through new effective mechanisms," Moussa said.

Al Ahram , in a bid to trace the positive results of the visit, reports the following:

In the political field

Spanish officials have expressed appreciation for the Egyptian role in the Middle East peace process.

Spain, like other European countries, considers the Egyptian role in the Middle East peace process as positive and objective.

The Spanish Foreign Minister has expressed Spain's readiness to help the parties concerned reach a just and comprehensive peace and said the peace issue would figure on his agenda during his upcoming visit to Egypt.

At the procedural level for boosting bilateral cooperation steps, Moussa said the Joint Higher Egyptian Spanish Committee will meet in Madrid next January under the two countries Foreign Ministers for reviewing progress of agreements reached during President Mubarak's visit to Madrid.

In the economic fields

The two sides reviewed the financial protocol, and they also tackled ways of redressing the deficit in trade balance which tends in favor of Spain.

In the field of trade exchange, the two sides agreed that the volume of trade exchange does not match the level of relations.

Views were concurrent on the importance of transferring bilateral cooperation into a genuine partnership in the upcoming stage.

The Spanish Foreign Minister reiterated his country's commitment on financing the feasibility study for the high speed train between Alexandria and Aswan.

In the field of natural gas and petroleum, the two sides agreed that two Spanish companies would liquefy and import Egyptian natural gas.

Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni and his Spanish counterpart agreed on developing cooperation in the field of document filing and restoring antiquities.