Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will travel to the US on Monday to participate in talks with the foreign and irrigation ministers of Ethiopia and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in a final bid to resolve months of stalemates between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the operation of the mega dam. Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement early on Monday that the meetings, scheduled for 12 and 13 February, come under an agreement by the parties involved in the most recent round of talks, on 28-31 January, to reconvene in Washington this month to ratify a final version of a comprehensive agreement over the filling and operation of the GERD. Last month, the ministers of foreign affairs and water resources of the three countries agreed on a schedule for the filling plan and a mitigation mechanism for filling the dam during times of drought and prolonged drought. The last round of negotiations, which began on 28 and 29 January and saw an extension of two additional days, was sponsored by the US and the World Bank, who are acting as observers in the talks. The signing of a final comprehensive agreement is scheduled for late February, and the ministers have instructed their technical and legal teams to prepare the points for the final agreement. Tensions have been building between Egypt and Ethiopia in recent months after talks on the technical details governing the operation of the dam had failed to make progress. Ethiopia hopes that the massive $4.8 billion project on the Blue Nile, which has been under construction since 2011, will allow it to become Africa’s largest power exporter.

Egypt hosted political consultations with Sweden on Sunday at headquarters of the Foreign Ministry, where they discussed further cooperation between the two countries. The consultations were held under the joint chairmanship of Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs Badr Abdel Aati and Director of the Office for Middle East and North Africa at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ann Dismore. Abdel Aati commended the recent positive developments in relations between both countries, especially after exchanging top-level visits and conducting regular consultations on various bilateral as well as multilateral issues of mutual interest. He welcomed the Sweden’s willingness to promote economic cooperation by capitalizing on ongoing economic developments and mega national projects in Egypt, including the New Administrative Capital where many Swedish companies are involved. Egypt is Sweden’s largest trade partner in Africa and the Middle East, he noted. Abdel Aati said that Egypt eyes further cooperation with Sweden in various domains, such as capacity-building, new and renewable energy, startups, communication and information technology, medical services, waste recycling and offering scholarships for Egyptian students to study at Swedish universities Egypt is also looking for establishing trilateral cooperation in Africa involving the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development and and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Abdel Aati added.

Egypt s President President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met on Sunday with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Addis Ababa, Egypt s Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi said in a statement. El-Sisi also chaired the African the 33rd African Union (AU) Summit closed session, which is currently held in the Ethiopian capital. Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi said Sisi asserted that Egypt is keen on maintaining cooperation with the UN institutions in the different domains to boost international peace and security. During the meeting, El- Sisi reviewed the priorities of Egypt during its presidency of the African Union in 2019, which included continuing progress as regards the implementation of UN Development Agenda in Africa, boosting inter-Africa integration projects and regional merging in addition to achieving tangible steps on the track of settling disputes. Meanwhile, Guterres lauded Egypt s distinguished position at the international arena, expressing appreciation for continued cooperation between Egypt and the UN. Guterres also praised the strenuous efforts of President El- Sisi during Egypt s presidency of the AU. The UN chief asserted keenness on promoting cooperation with Egypt to lay down basis of stability, security and development at the regional level especially in light of Egypt s pivotal role in Africa and the Middle East and its continuous support of the UN reform initiatives in the different domains in addition to Egypt s major contribution to the UN peace-keeping operations. The meeting also tackled the latest developments of many regional issues, especially the situation in Libya, Syria and the peace process in the Middle East, Radi said.