Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Saturday with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner, along with Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, on the sidelines of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Shoukry hailed the bilateral relations between Egypt and the UNDP, along with the organisation's support of Cairo's efforts on conducting national reviews for the implementation of its Egypt 2030 vision.

The minister affirmed Egypt's desire to continue technical cooperation and coordination between the Group of 77, which Cairo chairs, China, and the UNDP leadership.

He added that Egypt pays great attention to enhancing the role played by the UN and the international multilateral system, including the process of reforming the UN development system.

Shoukry stressed that the reform process should take into account priorities and requirements of the member states to implement the goals of the 2030 sustainable development plan.

Steiner described Egypt as a main UNDP partner in the Middle East and North Africa.

He hailed positive developments achieved by the country in its economic reform program.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry meeting with his Bahraini counterpart on the sidelines of the 73rd UN general Assembly on Saturday September 22, 2018 (Photo: Courtesy of Egypt's Foreign Ministry)

Meanwhile, the Egyptian foreign minister met with his Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, where they discussed bilateral ties and latest regional developments. 

Shoukry said Egypt highly appreciated Bahraini efforts and stances aimed at maintaining Arab national security, lauding deeply-rooted relations linking the two countries. 

The Bahraini top diplomat hailed distinguished ties binding the two countries in various industries, the spokesman noted. 

Shoukry asserted Egypt's firm stance towards fostering joint Arab action and solidarity in face of the current regional challenges, noting that Gulf security is integral to Egyptian and Arab national security. 

The talks also saw discussions of regional issues of common concern, highlighted by the Yemeni and Syrian crises, in addition to efforts to fight terrorism in the region and developments in the Palestinian cause, Abu Zeid noted.