Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has re-extended President El-Sisi's invitation to Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed to visit Egypt in order to consolidate bilateral relations, state news agency MENA reported. Mohamed expressed his gratitude to the support and humanitarian aid offered by Egypt to the Somali people, a statement by Egyptian cabinet said Friday. Ismail met on Thursday with the Somali president while participating in the LondonSomalia Conference in the UK capital. The statement added that Ismail hopes the conference contributes to supporting Somalia, and enabling the proper environment for development and prosperity of the Somali people. On Wednesday the UK hosted the two-day conference, in collaboration with the Somali government and the United Nations. According to a British government statement, the conference brought together leaders from around the world who accelerated “progress on security sector reform, built on the international response to the ongoing drought and humanitarian crisis and agreed the new international partnership needed to keep Somalia on course for increased peace and prosperity by 2020." The Egyptian premier has also stressed the willingness of Egypt to fully support Somali government and to offer help in development field and fighting terrorism. Ismail referred to a number of opportunities for trade and economic cooperation increase between both countries, such as agriculture, irrigation, mining, oil, gas, animal resources, fishing, meat imports, and education. Ismail also stated the importance of the private sector, pointing to an expected visit by an Egyptian businessmen delegation to Mogadishu to search for fields of cooperation. According to the Egyptian statement, the Somali president sent a message to El-Sisi that their meeting will mark a push towards enhancing relations between the two countries, and that he is looking forward to all joint projects to be carried out, especially as his country has started the reconstruction process and is in need of cooperation on many levels to achieve national economic. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, 55, was elected in February 2017.
