Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani. Iraq’s Premier is heading a high-level government delegation, comprising two deputies of the prime minister, the ministers of foreign affairs, planning, housing, trade and electricity, in addition to the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq. The Iraqi delegation is in Egypt to participate in the Joint Egyptian-Iraqi Higher Committee. Prime Minister, Dr. Moustafa Madbouly, and a number of Egyptian ministers and senior officials also attended the meeting with the President.

Spokesman for the Presidency, Counselor Ahmad Fahmy, said the President reiterated Egypt’s firm and unequivocal position in support of Iraq’s security and stability. The President underscored appreciation of the profound and solid strategic relations between the two countries, confirming commitment to strengthening and diversifying the frameworks of bilateral cooperation across the various political, economic, trade and cultural areas, at both the bilateral level and within the context of the Trilateral Cooperation Mechanism with Jordan.

The Iraqi Prime Minister lauded the solid and historical fraternal bonds the two countries share, stressing Iraq’s keenness on bolstering the well-established mechanisms of bilateral cooperation and on building on the outcomes of his last visit to Egypt last March. He asserted that the pace of the exchange of visits between the two sides demonstrated commitment to promote bilateral relations toward broader prospects during the coming period and to enhance leveraging Egyptian capacities and competences in a variety of areas. This comes in light of Egypt’s prominent role in reinforcing joint Arab action in the face of the current crises and challenges in the region; a role that is considered a model to be emulated in maintaining stability and improving the development, economic and social conditions.

The meeting explored ways to further advance frameworks of bilateral cooperation in an array of fields, particularly economic cooperation, trade, investment and the upgrading of infrastructure.

The two sides also exchanged views on Arab and regional issues of mutual concern, in light of the two countries’ pivotal roles in the region. They underlined keenness on boosting joint Arab action so as to contribute to countering the multiple challenges facing the Arab nation at the current stage, in order to realize the aspirations of the peoples of the region to live in peace and stability.