Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday asserted that Egypt is keen on fostering cooperation with Italy in the different fields, especially the economic, trade and investment ones. Also, he hailed fruitful and constructive cooperation with Italian companies, in particular those working in the petroleum and natural gas sectors. President El-Sisi went on to say that Cairo looks forward to boosting cooperation with the Italian oil companies, with the aim of helping the country turn into a regional power hub. El-Sisi's remarks came during a meeting with visiting Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi, in the presence of Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, General Intelligence Service Chief Abbas Kamel and the Italian ambassador in Cairo. During the meeting, President El-Sisi praised strong relations binding the two countries, stressing that Cairo and Rome are interested in bolstering bilateral cooperation during the coming period, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi said in a statement. For his part, Milanesi expressed happiness about his visit to Egypt, underlining that the Italian government is willing to push forward ties with the Egyptian government, in addition to strengthening bilateral coordination on a number of regional issues of mutual concern, the spokesman added. The meeting reviewed a host of files related to bilateral relations, as President El-Sisi affirmed that Egypt is eager to uncover the circumstances surrounding the death of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, the spokesman noted. The Italian minister commended positive cooperation between the Egyptian and Italian authorities in this case, expressing his hope that such joint efforts will lead to the truth, the spokesman said. The two sides touched on a number of regional issues, notably the Libyan crisis, where they asserted the importance of supporting efforts aimed at reaching a political settlement and breaking the ongoing deadlock, as well as backing the UN envoy's endeavors in this regard. In this respect, Italy's top diplomat lauded strenuous efforts exerted by Cairo to unite the Libyan military, saying that such a move could help strengthen the capabilities of state institutions and restore security and stability in the North African country, the spokesman noted. President El-Sisi stressed Egypt's firm stance on the Libyan crisis, which is based on adherence to the territorial integrity of Libya and respecting the will of the Libyan people that will be reflected in the upcoming elections, in addition to backing Libya's national army. The meeting tackled the issue of illegal migration, with El-Sisi pointing out to effective measures taken by the state at the legislative and economic levels to fight human trafficking and illegal migration and police Egypt's borders and coasts, which in turn contributed to stemming the flow of illegal migrants across the Egyptian coasts since September 2016. In a related context, the pair called for adopting an overall strategy to handle the illegal migration issue, as well as settling ongoing regional crises and pressing ahead with regional development efforts.
