Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sweilem, met on Monday with Minister of Water and Sanitation in Madagascar, Ravokatra Fidiniavo, and his accompanying delegation in Cairo on Monday. The meeting addressed joint cooperation between the two countries in the field of water resources. The resident representative of the World Food Program in Egypt, Praveen Agrawal, and the resident representative of the World Food Program in Madagascar, Pasqualina Disirio attended the meeting. Sweilem stressed his desire to enhance cooperation between Egypt and Madagascar in the field of water resources, pointing out that such meetings represent an important opportunity to increase communication and cooperation between different countries of the world and increase their ability to deal with water issues, in a way that achieves the sustainable development goals related to water. For his part, Fidiniavo expressed his country's keenness to achieve cooperation with Egypt in all fields, especially in the field of water resources. He also praised the distinguished management of water resources in Egypt, and the many experiences that Egypt possesses in the field of optimal water management, which encouraged his country to seek to enhance cooperation with Egypt in the field of water to meet the challenges facing Madagascar, and benefit from the successful Egyptian experiences in this field. Moreover, Sweilem referred to the distinguished experiences that Egypt possesses in the field of rainwater harvesting and protection against the dangers of torrential rains and in the field of rational management of groundwater that can be transferred to Madagascar. During the meeting, it was agreed to prepare a proposal for a memorandum of understanding between the two countries for cooperation in the field of water resources and irrigation that includes Egypt's promises to provide the Egyptian experience in the fields of rain harvesting and groundwater management in Madagascar. It also includes arranging field visits to a number of experts from the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation and the National Water Research Center to Madagascar to identify the challenges on the ground, and develop plans and proposals to deal with them.
