Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry met with the Somali Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Saeed Abdallah and the Somali Prime Minister’s adviser, Mohamed Nour, on Thursday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Somalia’s ambassador to Cairo was also present at the meeting.
The officials discussed Egypt’s role in “the educational field,” and the Somali ambassador pointed out that a “large number of the current [Somali] governmental officials received their education in Egypt,” the statement read.
He added that he aspires for a larger number of scholarships to be allocated for Somali students in Egyptian universities.
Shoukry meanwhile spoke of the “historical ties” linking the two peoples, noting that Egypt has been “keen about pushing forward bilateral relations” between the two countries, and about “meeting the needs of the Somali brothers,” in various fields.
Shoukry pointed specifically to Egypt’s efforts to provide “capacity-building programmes and scholarships”, adding that research would be conducted to determine how to provide humanitarian aid through the Egyptian Agency for Partnership for Somalis suffering from drought, and for “development.”
According to the foreign ministry statement, the Somali ambassador “praised Egypt’s historical support for his country,” and spoke of the “importance of Egypt’s role as an influential in mobilising Arab support for the Somali government and people.”
There are around 4,000 Somali refugees in Egypt, according to the UNHCR’s official numbers.
