Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud arrived in Cairo on Sunday, received by Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait.
He is scheduled to hold a session of talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday.
Ambassador Elias Sheikh Omar Abu-Bakr, Somalia’s ambassador to Egypt and permanent representative to the Arab League, stressed the importance of Mahmoud’s visit to Egypt as it will help advance relations between the two countries in all fields.
The Somali ambassador said that this visit is the first visit of Mahmoud to Egypt since he assumed his duties.
He indicated that the Somalian leader is set to meet President Sisi to hold a bilateral summit on Monday that deals with all issues of concern to the two countries at the bilateral level as well as regional and international topics.
Abu-Bakr indicated his country’s keenness to consult with the Egyptian leadership regarding ways to deal with the challenges facing the region and the world at large.
The unprecedented tensions and challenges the world is witnessing require more than ever to increase cooperation and coordination between Arab countries, especially Egypt, given the pivotal role it plays in supporting Arab causes, he explained.
He praised the level of Somali-Egyptian relations, which witnessed a great development during the last stage through mutual visits at the ministerial level and at the level of senior officials, the last of which was the visit of the Egyptian Prime Minister to Somalia during the inauguration ceremony of the Somali President.
Abu-Bakr stressed that the exchange of these visits achieves the common interests of the two countries and will be crowned today by the Somali President’s visit to Egypt and his meeting with President Sisi.
He stressed that the Somali-Egyptian relationship is historical and solid, expressing his hope that the visit will achieve the desired results and open up wider horizons in the course of cooperation and joint work between the two brotherly countries.