Qandil arrives in South Sudan to boost bilateral ties

Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil arrived here Thursday on a one-day visit for intensive talks with President Salva Kiir and other top officials,on means of promoting bilateral ties in various domains, especially commercial,economic and investment fields. South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar welcomed Qandil at the airport and his accompanying delegation, including Ministers Mohamed Kamel Amr of Foreign Affairs, Hatim Abdel-Hamid of Industry, Mohamed Bahaa of Irrigation and Salah Mohamed Abdel-Mo'men of Agriculture as well as a number of businessmen. Egyptian and Sudanese officials are scheduled to review joint development projects as well as Egypt's role in bridging the gap of view between North and South Sundan through its pioneering position at the African arena and Securirty Council. A well-placed source has said Egypt and South Sudan will sign a cooperation deal in the water domain and agree on the establishment of a higher joint committee which is expected to hold its first meeting in Cairo to boost bilateral cooperation. The source said "the talks will also tackle ongoing preparations for opening a land road between Egypt and Sudan within the coming few weeks, a step which is expected to give momentum to trade exchange between the two countries."