Qandil leaves for South Sudan to boost bilateral ties

Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil left here Thursday for South Sudan for talks with senior officials on means of promoting bilateral ties in various domains, especially commercial, economic and investment fields. Qandil is accompanied by Ministers Mohamed Kamel Amr of Foreign Affairs, Hatim Abdel-Hamid of Industry, Mohamed Bahaa of Irrigation and Salah Mohamed Abdel-Mo'men of Agriculture along with a number of businessmen. The two sides will also review joint development projects as well as Egypt's role in bridging the gap of view between North and South Sundan through its pioneering position at the African arena and Securirty Council. A well-placed source has said Egypt and South Sudan will sign a cooperation deal in the water domain and agree on the establishment of a higher joint committee which is expected to hold its first meeting in Cairo to boost bilateral cooperation. The source said "the talks will also tackle ongoing preparations for opening a land road between Egypt and Sudan within the coming few weeks, a step which is expected to give momentum to trade exchange between the two countries."