Egypt, Libya accords in tourism, trade, petroleum, Da'wa
The Egyptian-Libyan Joint Committee will consider in its meeting today in Cairo under Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and his Libyan counterpart Embarak Al-Shamekh some issues that could push forward bilateral ties, said Egypt's ambassador to Libya Hany Khallaf, adding that the two-day meeting will also consider allocating 650,000 feddans in Wadi Halfa which will be reclaimed and planted by Libyan finance in addition to 100,000 feddans in Toshka.
The Ambassador added that the Committee will probe extending Libyan oil and gas pipelines to the Egyptian refineries besides the possibility of setting up electrical projects by Egyptian specialized companies.
"For the first time, the Committee will conclude accords on tourism promotion and Islamic D'awa besides an agreement on the administrative development," he added.
On the other hand, a Libyan Ministerial delegation led by Al-Ogeili Abdessalam Ameen Secretary of Economy and Finance arrived in Cairo on Tuesday on a visit of several days.
The Libyan delegation started yesterday the preparatory meetings with their Egyptian counterparts to prepare for meeting of the Egyptian-Libyan Higher Committee.
The Libyan Minister said, in post-arrival statements, that the meetings of the Egyptian-Libyan Higher committee are part of his country's policy to create a kind of economic integration among the Arab states and with Egypt in particular.
The economic aspect is essential in having peoples of the two countries come together to realize their aspiration for unity on the political side.
Ameen said, adding that this came as part of implementing the directives of the Libyan president and President Hosni Mubarak.
State Minister for foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Fayza Abu Al-Naga, who leads Egypt's delegation to meetings of the preparatory committee, said that the 8th session of the committee will tackle a number of topics on cooperation between Egypt and Libya, including reviewing what has been agreed upon during last session and opening new horizons for pushing trade exchange forward.
Egypt is interested in beefing up trade volume with Libya, Abu Al-Naga said, adding that she feels that the current volume does not live up to the agreements and aspirations of the two states.