Zayed receives Mubarak's message on peace, relations
Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid Tuesday said he handed over a message from President Hosni Mubarak to President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan A1 Nuhayan on the current situation in the region and his efforts to stem the bloodshed in the occupied territories.
In statements he gave after delivering the message to Sheikh Zayed, Ebeid stressed President Mubarak's keenness on familiarising Sheikh Zayed with the important developments and current proposals to settle regional disputes.
Ebeid, stressing the Egyptian-UAE good ties, said that the two states are bound by strong brotherly relations, hailing the honorable stances adopted by Sheikh Zayed as regards Arab and Islamic issues.
He said that he discussed with Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed Al-Nuhayan bilateral ties and progress in the implementation of joint ventures, particularly the land reclamation projects which Abu Dhabi Fund for Development is financing in west Al-Nobareya, east of Suez and west of the Suez Canal.
In the interview he granted to the UAE News Agency, the premier spoke about President Mubarak's orders to render all services possible to UAE land reclamation investments in Egypt and to put Emirati nationals on an equal footing with Egyptians as regards land ownership and registration.
He lauded cooperation between the two states in the energy fields pointing out that his talks in Abu Dhabi covered setting up joint ventures to develop oil fields in Egypt.
The UAE has launched a company at the initial capital of LE 100 million to set up a series of petrol and service stations covering all parts of the Egyptian highways, he said.
Ebeid said his talks with Sheikh Sultan dwelt on the condition of the Egyptian work force in the UAE stressing Egypt's keenness on providing the UAE with highly skilled workers.
The premier said his visit is an opportunity to thank officials at the Arab Monetary Fund for offering Egypt U.S. dlrs 300 million to help it overcome the adverse effect on its economy of the global economic slowdown that came in the aftermath of the September 11 events in the U.S.