Egypt Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit has met President General Pervez Musharraf and delivered a message from President Hosni Mubarak to him, says an official statement. Musharraf expressed his appreciation of the vision and leadership of President Mubarak, which has greatly contributed to Egypt's progress and development. He reiterated his gratitude for the relief assistance the Government and people of Egypt provided for the earthquake victims in Pakistan. Ahmed Aboul Gheit conveyed an invitation from President Mubarak to Musharraf to visit Egypt, which was accepted in principle. The discussions also focused on regional and international issues of mutual interest to both sides, including the peace process in the Middle East, continuing violence and instability in Iraq, the Kashmir issue, the challenges faced by the Muslim world, the threat of terrorism, and OIC reforms. It was agreed that urgent steps would be taken to move the peace process in the Middle East forward, and that failure to do so was impacting adversely on the Muslim World. Musharraf expressed the hope that visit of the Foreign Minister and the Joint Ministerial Commission meeting would give a new momentum to close relations between Pakistan and Egypt. Meanwhile, Pakistan and Egypt have signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for further bolstering their bilateral relations, especially in the field of trade and investment, between the two brotherly countries. The agreements were signed at the conclusion of the second session of the two-day Pak-Egypt JMC. In the closing session, the Pakistani side was led by Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, while the Egyptian side was represented by its Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. During the JMC deliberations, both sides discussed the present level of economic relations and identified areas of mutual interest to explore the possibilities for further cooperation. The MoUs signed related to cooperation of foreign service academies; the abolition of visa for diplomatic passport holders; establishment of a joint business council (JBC); cultural exchange programme for the years 2006-10; and MoU on the agreed minutes of the sessions. Both the sides agreed to convene the third session of Pak-Egypt joint commission in Cairo during December 2007. Economic relations were formalized through an agreement for the establishment of a joint commission signed on April 23, 1989 in Cairo. Kasuri said Pakistan's economic, trade, social and historic relations with Egypt are time tested and expressed Pakistan's firm commitment for furthering bilateral co-operation. We have a keen interest in further bolstering our commercial and economic ties with Egypt, which have a tremendous potential to grow manifold, he said. Kasuri said Pakistan welcomes the investments made by the Orascom Group of Egypt, one of the foremost foreign investment group in Pakistan, in the sectors of communications and cement. We invite our Egyptian friends to look at attractive economic opportunities in Pakistan, and to invest in other mutually beneficial areas, such as oil and gas, industrial, infrastructure, food processing and tourism, the foreign minister said.
