Egypt, Bulgaria inked three agreements during their first joint cooperation committee meeting yesterday. The two countries signed two MoU to cooperate in the fields of natural gas and defense. They also agreed to exempt diplomatic and service passport holders from short-stay visa requirements, according to a joint statement. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel chaired the meeting, where they agreed to boost bilateral trade and investments in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, as well as cooperation in the sectors of energy, IT, and tourism.

A Bulgarian Industrial Zone? Bulgaria floated the idea of setting up its own industrial zone in Egypt, similar to Russia and China’s, to serve as an industrial hub for Bulgarian products; this came during a meeting between Trade Minister Ahmed Samir and Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister Nikolay Pavlov. Samir highlighted sectors that may be of interest to potential Bulgarian investors — car components, artificial intelligence, tourism, petrochemicals, and medicine.

ALSO- The committee agreed to meet annually, with next year’s meeting scheduled to take place in Bulgaria.

Egypt + Cyprus: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday where he discussed economic, trade, investment, energy, agriculture, and tourism cooperation with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, according to a statement. Talks also covered tripartite cooperation between the two countries and Greece, with Shoukry sharing Egypt’s intention to host the next three-way summit to put in place a cooperative framework.

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