Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Elsayed Elkosayer and Ambassador of Brazil in Cairo Antonio de Aguier discussed increasing cooperation in the agricultural field between the two countries. The Minister of Agriculture emphasized the strength and durability of the relations that bind the two countries, as well as the areas of joint cooperation, foremost of which is the agricultural field, and related activities. During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to increase trade exchange opportunities between the two countries, especially since Egyptian agricultural exports enjoy a good reputation, and new markets have been opened abroad, especially citrus fruits, strawberries, mangoes, and other products that many markets in various countries of the world accept, pointing out that Egypt has accredited reference laboratories that contribute to confirming the quality of Egyptian agricultural crops and their conformity with specifications. For his part, the Ambassador expressed his happiness with this meeting, as it was suggested that he leave the country soon to be his country's ambassador to England, but he was happy to work during the last period in Cairo, as the volume of trade exchange between Brazil and Egypt increased by 20%. He referred to the common challenges and cooperation agreements signed between the two countries, political relations, and President Sisi's recent meeting with President-elect Lula da Silva at the COP27 climate conference, and stressed his country's desire to deepen bilateral cooperation with Egypt and revive the economic cooperation initiative with Brazil as a member state of the MERCOSUR grouping with the aim of raising bilateral cooperation relations to the level of strategic relations. For his part, Elkosayer stressed the possibility of expanding cooperation in the field of seed production and the development of vegetable seeds within the national program for the production of vegetable seeds, in which Egypt has made important strides in a number of crops, in addition to intensifying cooperation in the field of agricultural research in order to activate the cooperation agreement "Ambrapa", which was signed with the Ministry of Agriculture in May 2022. He referred to the expansion of cooperation activities to include cooperation in the field of sugarcane cultivation by seedlings, and to benefit from the Brazilian experience in this field, through the dispatch of experts from the Brazilian side in light of the Egyptian state's establishment of stations operating with modern technologies to produce sugar cane seedlings in Aswan governorate. For his part, the new agricultural advisor appointed at the Brazilian Embassy in Cairo confirmed that he will put on his agenda all the issues that were addressed in order to communicate with those concerned and to continuously follow up on files of common interest.
