MANAMA - Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf arrived in Bahrain on Tuesday, coming from the United Arab Emirates to meet king Hamad Bin Eissa, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. The tour lasted for few hours. Sharaf-Hamad meeting focused on the latest developments in the region and the Arab world. The talks also focussed on ways of boosting relations between Egypt and Manama. The two officials discussed the mechanism to encourage bilateral investments led by businessmen of both countries. Some senior officials of both countries attended the meeting. Egyptian Ambassador in Bahrain Mohamed Ashraf said that the meeting comes at a political crossroad as both countries are witnessing similar political moves seeking more democracy," ambassador Ashraf was quoted by the MENA. He added that both countries would exchange views over dialogues led by political parties and NGOs in both Egypt and Bahrain. The diplomat assured that the Gulf security is part and parcel of Egypt's security. Egypt looks forward to building relations with Bahrain on a new base which required an Egyptian-Bahraini partnership capable of facing future challenges, added the Egyptian ambassador. Meanwhile, Sharaf had met the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan on Monday. The president "has issued directives to allocate an aid package of $3 billion for Egypt," the official WAM news agency reported late on Monday. The UAE will establish a $1.5 billion fund in Egypt for small and medium-sized enterprises, to be named after the Emirati ruler, "with the objective of providing business and job opportunities to a broad range of Egyptian youth," WAM said. "Sheikh Khalifa also directed allocation of $750 million as a grant to develop housing and infrastructure projects for the schemes to be created under the fund," the news agency added. "Another $750 million will be set aside as concessionary loans for different projects in Egypt," it added.
