In an official visit that they started on Monday, Shoukry and Safadi discussed boosting trilateral cooperation with Iraq especially regarding the economic and commercial cooperation projects, a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs read.

During the meeting, they addressed means of building on the progress in trilateral cooperation achieved within the framework of the summits held between Egypt, Jordan and Iraq over the past years.

They also discussed building on the mandates issued during the summits to push forward cooperation between the three countries in the various fields and development projects.

This should ensure direct and prompt return on these projects for the peoples of the three countries, they affirmed.

The meeting discussed regional and international developments, with the ministers highlighting the need to continue working on the various challenges facing the Arab region and prioritise political solutions to these challenges.

Shoukry and Safadi, for their part, stressed the importance that Cairo and Amman attach to supporting the security and stability of Iraq within the framework of the brotherly bonds between the three countries on the official and popular levels.

The ministers discussed joint security and defence cooperation against terrorist organisations, stressing the need to continue coordination and exchange experiences and information in this regard, a statement by the Iraqi cabinet said.

This should ensure a safe environment for economic prosperity and promoting sustainable development in a manner that serves the peoples of the three countries and the entire region, the statement added.

Shoukry and Safadi also held a separate meeting with Iraqi President Barham Salih within the framework of their visit.

Egypt, Iraq and Jordan have intensified their meetings over the past few years to address enhancing strategic relations and expanding trilateral cooperation in several fields, including energy, industry, agriculture, transport, food security, infrastructure and investment.

The leaders of the three countries have met four times in less than three years, the first of which was in Cairo in March 2019, to discuss implementing trilateral strategic projects.

During their latest summit in Baghdad in June last year, the three leaders pledged to reinforce coordination between their security and intelligence apparatuses in countering terrorism and cyber security.

They also laid special emphasis on ambitious plans to build a power grid, a gas network, an oil pipeline and a land route that would connect their three countries and facilitate their integration.

Egypt, a country with an electricity surplus of more than 25 percent, is planning to export electricity to Iraq through its electricity grid link with Jordan. Egypt and Jordan agreed in November last year to double the capacity of their electricity grid link to 1GW.