CAIRO, Sept 28, 2018 (MENA) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry conferred with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom, on the fringe of his participation at the 73rd UN General Assembly meetings, on bilateral relations, means of developing them in all fields as well as regional developments. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid said that the Egyptian top diplomat asserted during the meeting Egypt's keenness on bolstering its relations with Sweden in all domains, praising Stockholm's efforts to develop cooperation with Egypt. Abu Zeid also explained that the meeting took up enhancing political relations to be up to the level of economic ones. Shoukry also asserted the need for upgrading tourism relations as well as exchanging visits and meeting to coordinate visions vis-a-vis regional and international issues of common interest, added the spokesman. The meeting also took up the issue of the Nile water as Shoukry briefed his Swedish opposite on the recent talks between Egypt and Ethiopia on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The two sides asserted their support for the UN Relief and Works Agency and reiterated that any failure in funding the agency would have serious humanitarian and security impact on the region, according to the spokesman. Egypt is the biggest trade partner for Sweden in Africa as the volume of trade exchange hit euros 644 million in 2017. Swedish investments in Egypt reached dlrs 141 million distributed in 146 projects.
