Cairo, Egypt - Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr affirmed on Thursday his country's eagerness to foster relations with the Nile Basin countries, following a meeting in Cairo with visiting Ethiopian deputy premier and Foreign Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, on the sidelines of a high-profile visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to Egypt.

Amr was quoted by an Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman as saying Cairo and Addis Ababa agreed on turning over a new leaf of friendship and cooperation, based on confidence, transparency and mutual interests.

The Egyptian spokesman said that Desalegn, for his part, emphasized that Ethiopia takes a keen interest in boosting its ties with Egypt in the different sectors, with a focus on promoting political consultations between the two Nile Basin countries.

The meeting was held within the framework of the fourth session of the Egyptian-Ethiopian ministerial committee.

Meanwhile, the third forum of the Egyptian-Ethiopian business council has been set to kick-off on Saturday in Cairo.

The forum will be held under the auspices of Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and is expected to discuss a package of proposals aiming to promote trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

On a parallel note, Egypt's Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younis, met with the Ethiopian minister of water resources, Alemayehu Tigino, and his delegation in Cairo this week, discussing means of enhancing joint cooperation between two sides.

Both Nile Basin countries agreed on certain projects to support cooperation, including human development projects, providing technical support to the electricity sector and renewed energy technology.

Younis said the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity would fund these projects, adding that there were also negotiations on building a wind farm in Ethiopia.

He also announced that an Egyptian technical group would participate in the executive three-way committee between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to study the Millennium Dam, which would be established on the Blue Nile.

In a related development, Tigino told local media in Cairo, after meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, that his country would not export water to Israel, saying that all such reports claiming so, were baseless.

He explained that Ethiopia aims to develop its water resources through establishing dams to produce electricity to be exported to the other Nile Basin states.

Pana 17/09/2011