Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Thursday that his country is determined to “advance the level of bilateral relations with Algeria to a progressive strategic partnership,” while his Algerian counterpart Ayman Benabderrahmane affirmed that “the capabilities of the two countries, if integrated, can make miracles.”
The two officials chaired on Thursday the eighth round of the Higher Egyptian-Algerian Committee held after eight years of hiatus. The committee met the last time in Cairo in 2014.
Madbouly and Benabderrahmane also opened the Egyptian-Algerian businessmen forum.
The meetings were attended by Egyptian and Algerian ministers and officials, including the ministers of energy, higher education, housing, and trade.
Madbouly said the committee should convene on a regular basis, especially in light of the great importance President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune give to fostering cooperation between Arab nations.
The Egyptian PM stressed the importance of strengthening the private sector’s role in the two countries. Benabderrahmane said he agrees with Madbouly about the importance of striving to achieve integration between both sides.
The Algerian PM also expressed his pride that the joint committee with Egypt is the first joint committee that Algeria has held with any country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
He affirmed “the importance of the role of the private sector in advancing cooperation between the two countries, the need to work on inaugurating a regular shipping line between Egypt and Algeria, and on strengthening cooperation between both countries in the field of food, medicine and energy.”
He said Egyptian investors will find all the facilities in Algeria.
For his part, the Egyptian PM urged boosting Egyptian-Algerian trade exchange, stating that the current volume of trade exchange between both countries is “not in line with the production and export capabilities of our two countries and the needs of their markets.”
Madbouly stressed the importance of charting new trade routes to facilitate the transfer of goods between the two countries other than the land route passing through Libya due to the current tensions there.
