Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf was to begin a two-day visit to Uganda today and then travel to Ethiopia. A high-profile delegation will accompany the Prime Minister in his African tour. In Kampala, Sharaf will hold talks with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and other officials to discuss bilateral relations in the economic, trade and investment fields in addition to common issues such as the question of Nile water and the situation in the Horn of Africa. Discussions will also cover Egyptian companies' contribution to a number of development and infrastructure projects, especially related to electricity. Sharaf will participate in the inauguration of Ugandan President Museveni, who was recently re-elected. On the sidelines of the celebrations, Sharaf will meet with his African counterparts. Tomorrow Sharaf will head to Addis-Ababa for a three-day visit in which he will meet with his Ethiopian counterpart, Meles Zanawy, to discuss the means to support cooperation in different fields including trade, economy and investment. They will also discuss establishing common investment projects in the fields of energy, electricity and irrigation. Talks will include discussing how Nile water can be used to help achieve development among the Nile Basin states. Sharaf will witness the signing of an agreement between Egypt's commerce chambers federation and its Ethiopian counterpart to increase the flow of trade and investment among the two countries. Sharaf will confirm the strong relations that bring the two countries together and the necessity of overcoming differences that affected relations recently. Egypt's prime minister will stress his country's desire to turn a new page with Ethiopia. A prominent official in Egypt's embassy in Ethiopia said it is a suitable time for turning a new page of relations between the two countries. He expects the visit will be fruitful especially on the question of the Nile water crisis. He signaled that the visit of Egypt's public diplomacy delegation managed to pave the way for restoring relations between the two countries. Egypt's delegation will include the ministers of electricity, international cooperation, foreign affairs and irrigation and water resources in addition to the chairman of the general authority of investment.
