A high-level ministerial Iraqi delegation has arrived in Egypt to follow up, with a number of Egyptian officials, on the recently-signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between Cairo and Baghdad two months ago.

As many as 15 agreements, (MoUs) and protocols were inked by both state's premiers during the latest meeting of the revived Egyptian-Iraqi high committee held in Baghdad in October to boost the joint cooperation.

The signed agreements and protocols covered different sectors such as oil, justice, irrigation, environment, stock exchange, health, transport, roads, housing, construction, trade, industry, consumer protection, and investment.

Egypt-Iraq linkage power venture

Egypt’s Minister of electricity and renewable energy Mohamed Shaker discussed on Thursday boosting bilateral cooperation between Iraq and Egypt in the field of energy in a meeting with an Iraqi delegation led by his counterpart, the Iraqi Electricity Minister Maged Mahdi Hantoush.

Minister Shaker emphasized the interest of the Egyptian electricity and energy sector in supporting and strengthening cooperation with Iraq in electrical interconnection projects.

Shaker expressed Egypt’s full readiness to share its experience and to provide all means of support to Iraq.

Minister Hantoush, on his part, praised the great expertise that the Egyptian electricity and renewable energy sector possesses in all fields, expressing his desire to benefit from them in the reconstruction of the energy sector in Iraq.

He also stressed his interest in taking the necessary measures for the electrical interconnection project.

According to a statement by the Egyptian electricity ministry, both sides stressed the importance of coordination to look into the possibility of strengthening power linkage between Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.

Boosting joint investment and trade exchange

Egyptian Planning and Economic Development Minister Hala El-Said and her counterpart Minister Khaled Al-Batal held another meeting on Thursday, during which she stressed that Cairo is fully prepared to cooperate with Baghdad to establish joint development and investment ventures to push forward the development process in both countries.

Both sides agreed to meet periodically to coordinate stances and policies to achieve both state's peoples to strengthen integration and economic cooperation, especially via upgrading joint industrial zones, cooperation in the energy and infrastructure sectors.

They also agreed to increase trade exchange, enhance joint investments, and activate the role of the private sector, according to a statement released following the meeting by the Egyptian Planning ministry.

El-Said also reviewed a host of potential joint projects with Iraq, foremost of which is developing economic policies, planning at strategic, central and sectoral levels, balancing programs and performance, and following up on the implementation of the state's investment plan and others.

The Egyptian minister proposed, during the meeting, training the Iraqis through the Egyptian National Academy of Training and the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.

Pharmaceutical production line for Iraq

A third meeting was held today between Health Minister Hala Zayed and her Iraqi counterpart Hassan Al-Tamimi, who arrived in Egypt late on Wednesday.

Zayed told Al-Tamimi that Egypt is to open pharmaceutical production lines to meet Iraq's demands.

The Iraqi minister toured, with Zayed, an Egyptian drug factory to follow up on the developments concerning cooperation agreements between both countries in the field of pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Zayed said Egypt will provide technical support for Iraq through training its workers and technicians in the Iraqi plants as per the signed MOUs, according to a statement by the Egyptian health ministry on Thursday.

The Iraqi minister thanked the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for supporting Iraq, especially in the medical sector, according to the statement.

The Egyptian-Iraqi high committee was formed by an agreement signed by both countries in July 1988, with the aim of coordinating cooperation frameworks.
The committee has met thrice since then, in 1988, 1989, and 2020.

During the October meeting, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly hinted at an initial consensus between the two countries to establish an oil-for-reconstruction mechanism, under which Egyptian companies are to implement construction ventures in Iraq in return for providing Cairo with quantities of oil.

Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla, however, last month said "the matter is still under discussion and has not yet reached a final deal."