Egypt's Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly urged opening a branch of Banque Misr in Somalia, as it will have positive repercussions on trade and financial transactions between the two countries, Egypt Today has reported. Banque Misr is an Egyptian bank founded by industrialist Talaat Harb in 1920. This came during a Sunday meeting in Cairo with Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Isse Awad, Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Ambassador Abu BakrHefny, and Somalia's Ambassador to Egypt Abdul Ghani Mohamed Waeis. The Egyptian prime minister affirmed Egypt's assistance to the Somali government, and highlighted the efforts aiming at achieving progress, and boosting security and stability across Somalia, Nader Saad, Egyptian Cabinet's spokesman said. Madbouly also expressed readiness to meet the needs of the Somali government regarding technical support, training and scholarships, in order to help Somali cadres who are capable of building their state to graduate. Moreover, Madbouly underscored the need to work to increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries, especially through taking advantage of the livestock Somalia enjoys, and increasing Egypt's imports of meat, the spokesman said. For his part, the Somali foreign minister affirmed his country's appreciation of its historic relations with Egypt, noting that Egypt has always supported Somali people throughout history. Awad said that Egyptians have sacrificed for the independence of Somalia. The Somali minister praised the prime minister's remarks about Egypt's readiness to enhance support to the Somali people to achieve development, lauding the growing keenness of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on strengthening cooperation with Somalia over the past few years. Awad affirmed that his country prioritizes cooperation with Egypt, and is working to strengthen cooperation between the business sectors of both countries, according to the spokesman. The minister added that Somalia relies on Egypt's support for Somalia in international forums. Source: All Africa
