Ethiopian Foreign Minister Hailemariam Desalegn arrived in Cairo Wednesday leading a delegation to discuss bilateral relations.
Desalegn will attend the first meeting in 17 years of a joint Egyptian-Ethiopian committee, which will examine various areas of cooperation between the countries as well as ways to increase Egyptian investments in Ethiopia.
Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Mona Omar said the foreign ministers of both countries will discuss several African issues, particularly the situation in Sudan and South Sudan, famine in Somalia and drought in the Horn of Africa.
She said the visit will help prepare for Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s visit next week. Zenawi is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and several other Egyptian officials on Saturday and Sunday, the Foreign Ministry announced earlier, adding that the meeting will not address controversial Nile water issues.
Relations with Ethiopia were often tense under former President Hosni Mubarak's regime. Zenawi's visit will be the first since the outbreak of the revolution.
