The meeting between El-Sisi and Al-Halboosi also highlighted the importance of enhancing strategic cooperation between Egypt and Iraq, the media office of the Iraqi parliament speaker said in a statement.

El-Sisi and Al-Halboosi also discussed political issues of mutual concern in the region, including achieving stability in Syria.

Al-Halboosi hailed Egypt's role in helping to restore stability in Iraq as well as Egyptian efforts in supporting regional security, stability and development, Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said in a statement.

In this regard, Al-Halboosi expressed aspiration to continue cooperating with Egypt in all fields, especially at the parliamentary level and to benefit from the Egyptian experience in developing and building state institutions.

El-Sisi confirmed Egypt's full readiness to cooperate with Iraq in all fields on the bilateral level and also on the trilateral level with Jordan, reiterating Egypt's support to the security and stability of Iraq.

The president also highlighted the role of the Egyptian and Iraqi parliaments in enhancing cooperation between the two countries.

El-Sisi stressed the special relations binding Egypt and Iraq and stressed Egypt's keenness to boost cooperation between the two countries in all fields at the official and popular levels.

Strategic cooperation

Al-Halboosi also met with Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry during his Cairo trip, where they discussed their trilateral cooperation mechanism with Jordan and agreed on boosting the Egyptian-Iraqi relations.

Egypt views its trilateral cooperation mechanism with both Iraq and Jordan from a comprehensive strategic perspective with the aim of maximising benefits for all parties, Shoukry said during the meeting.

Shoukry expressed aspiration for the implementation of the joint projects within the framework of the mechanism as soon as possible.

Moreover, Egypt's top diplomat said he looks forward for the Egyptian-Iraqi Joint Higher Committee convening in Cairo in the near future.

Shoukry said Egypt is keen to respond to Iraqi requests regarding engaging Egyptian companies in the reconstruction projects in Iraq.

This comes in light of the broad experiences held by these companies and given that a number of these projects have already started, Shoukry said.

Meanwhile, the FM also stressed Egypt's support to the Iraqi efforts in its war against terrorism.

Al-Halboosi's visit comes only a month after Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who took office last October, made his first official visit to Cairo as premier and held talks with El-Sisi.

Bilateral, trilateral cooperation

Egypt and Iraq have intensified bilateral cooperation in recent years and have intensified coordination on regional issues of concern.

Egypt and Iraq are also bound by trilateral cooperation agreements with Jordan, including a power linkage project between the three countries.

During his early March visit, Al-Sudani met with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, where they agreed to assign the relevant ministers in both governments to work over the coming two months to activate the agreements the agreements signed by both countries.

This comes while both countries are also preparing to hold the Egyptian-Iraqi Joint Higher Committee in May or June this year, according to the Egyptian cabinet last month.

Egypt already has a power link with Jordan with a capacity of 550 MW and work is underway to boost its capacity in order for it to reach Iraq, Madbouly noted during his meeting with Al-Sudani.

He noted that the power line linking Egypt and Jordan can be boosted to up to 2,000-3,000 MW to serve this purpose.

The Iraqi premier said that the first phase of the trilateral power linkage project will be completed in June.

Al-Sudani also revealed consultations to establish a logistical zone on the Iraqi-Jordanian borders to contribute to securing goods and commodities, noting that Egypt can benefit from this zone by providing Egyptian goods to the Iraqi markets.

Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan and have held five summits since 2019, the last of which was at the Dead Sea in Jordan last December, to discuss implementing tripartite strategic projects.

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq have also held a series of periodic meetings to strengthen their trilateral cooperation mechanisms.