EGYPTIAN Minister of Higher Education Hany Helal signed yesterday a technology and science co-operation agreement with Japan's Ambassador to Egypt Kaoru Ishikawa, on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Egypt-Japan University for Science and Technology (E-JUST). The signing of the agreement at the opening ceremony was attended by Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul Naga and Sadako Ogata, the President of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), which organised the project. Prime Minister Nazif stated that the pact with Japan would assist Egypt to achieve “deserved” scientific research and boost its role in the region. “It will be a bridge linking Japan and Africa, supporting their technical co-operation," he said. "I feel confident that the E-JUST will be an innovative centre for scientific research," he told the gathering at Smart Village, in Giza, which included Egyptian ministers and heads of universities and Japanese officials. "Four years ago when I visited Egypt, the Prime Minister and other officials expressed their enthusiasm for creating a new university dedicated to science and technology here," said Ogata, the president of JICA. "At the time I was not sure if the idea were feasible. It was so ambitious, I thought it was a dream. But this dream has turned into reality on Thursday, owing to the enormous efforts of everyone on both sides," she told the same gathering.