Egypt’s Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem met with Ambassador of Jordan Amgad Al-Adaylah on 29 June to discuss enhancing cooperation in various intellectual and artistic fields, especially in light of the gradual return of cultural activities following a year of COVID-19 lockdown.

The meeting was attended by president of the Cairo Opera House Magdy Saber and head of the Foreign Cultural Relations Sector Sabry Said.

The officials discussed a number of cultural events that the two countries will hold in the days to come, foremost of which is the Jarash Festival and the artistic events and performances carried out by the Egyptian Opera House.

"Art as a soft power is a means of rapprochement between the peoples of the world and a bridge for exchanging diverse visions and creations," Abdel-Dayem during the meeting, highlighting the strength of relations between Egypt and Jordan and the closeness between their peoples.

The minister also reviewed the cultural activities that will be held this year, most notably the Cairo International Book Fair, which is considered an important cultural event in the Arab world and sees the participation of many Arab countries, including Jordan.

For his part, Ambassador Al-Adaylah affirmed Jordan and Egypt's strong desire to enhance and deepen cultural cooperation, expressing his happiness to hold mutual activities that reflect the various aspects of arts and culture in the Egyptian and Jordanian societies.

The two sides agreed to mobilise all efforts to ensure the success of the desired cultural cooperation and characterised the upcoming Jarash festival as a significant event of bilateral cultural cooperation between Egypt and Jordan.