Egyptian President Abdel El-Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt is due to visit Ethiopia before the end of this year,Ethiopian ambassador to Cairo Mahmoud Dirir has said. In press statements to London-based Al-Hayat daily newspaper on Thursday,Ambassador Dirir said that the Egyptian president was going to meet with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in New York during their upcoming participation in the UN General Assembly meetings. Both leaders are expected to discuss bilateral relations and the latest developments concerning the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam. "President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received an invitation to visit Ethiopia during the African summit in Equatorial Guinea last June," Ambassador Dirir toldthe pan-Arab newspaper,adding the Egyptian president's first visit to Ethiopia is considered to be “historical.” The ambassador also hinted out that there was a positive improvement in Egyptian-Ethiopian Bilateral relations. "Ethiopia hopes that bilateral relations with Egypt go beyond the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam because we can have other common interests such as economic, energy, education and aviation projects," Dirir told Al-Hayat. Egyptian – Ethiopian relations have deteriorated in the past three years following the construction of Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam. The project is of concern to the Egyptian government as there are fears it will affect Egypt's potable water supply from the Nile. Egypt's irrigation and water minister Hossam El-Moghazi is going to head the Egyptian delegation participating in the meeting with ministers of irrigation from Sudan and Ethiopia next Saturday in Addis Ababa. A new round of talks between technical experts from the three countries about the Renaissance Dam will be launched during this meeting. Minister El-Moghazi is expected to visit the location of the Renaissance Dam during his visit. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/111073.aspx
