The United States and Egypt signed bilateral agreements worth $268m this week, the US embassy in Egypt said in a press release on Thursday. The agreements "signify a new era in support from the American people for joint US-Egypt priorities in economic growth, agriculture, tourism, governance, water and waste water management, and education," the embassy stated. Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Cairo Thomas H. Goldberger said that these programmes demonstrate US commitment to investing in Egypt's future, "particularly for its youth". "Since 1975, the United States has helped to build a more sustainably prosperous Egypt through gains in education, health, governance, and economic growth that have tangibly improved the lives of Egyptians – a legacy that we hope to continue through these new assistance agreements," Goldberger added. The Egyptian military is receiving an annual $1.5bn in military aid from the United States.This aid has been temporarily suspended after the violent dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in in August 2014, but was continued this year, sealed with the delivery of 10 Apaches helicopters in September. According to the US embassy, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has "fostered international development cooperation" in Egypt by "implementing programs totaling nearly $30bn since 1975." US President Barak Obama and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met last week as Al-Sisi was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. They discussed bilateral cooperation, the security situation in the Middle East and especially the threat of terrorism to the region.
