Egypt, EU discuss agricultural cooperation

CAIRO, Jan 23 (MENA) - Minister of Agriculture Ezzeddin Abu Steit had talks with visiting European Union Envoy for Agricultural and Rural Development Phil Hogan on means of enhancing joint cooperation.

The talks took up the current improvement of the Egyptian national economy within the framework of the comprehensive economic and social reform program, said a statement by the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday.

The two sides expressed keenness on boosting cooperation in the domain of agriculture and rural development for increasing trade and investments in the field of agricultural industries.

The visit of the EU official is an evidence that the European body is interested in enhancing relations with Egypt, added the statement.

The EU is supporting the agricultural sector and food crop production in Egypt with 40 million euros. In 2015 Egypt signed a grant agreement worth 22 million euros to implement an EU-funded project to support agricultural small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).