Egypt, Greece and Cyprus to form committee on maritime economy
Newspaper Title: http://en.starafrica.com/
Newspaper Number:
Thursday - 10 December 2015
Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus have agreed to form a committee of maritime economy to discuss tripartite cooperation in the fields of maritime navigation, technology and tourism, announced Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades Wednesday in the Greek capital, Athens.
In a tripartite summit with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Greek Prime Minister Alexi Tsipras, Anastasiades said that the newly discovered Mediterranean Zohr gas field is a key factor of cooperation in the region, according Egyptian state TV.
President Sisi said that the three leaders are looking forward to the new committee helping the three countries reach a positive and effective framework of cooperation.
At the Athens summit, the three leaders agreed on unifying their efforts to combat terrorism and tackle illegal migration, announcing their support to the Palestinian issue and the necessity of reaching a peaceful agreement between the Palestinians and Israel to enable the Palestinians establish their state on the 1967 borders, Sisi said in his speech.
Other burning regional issues, including the turmoil in Libya and Syria, were some of the issues discussed by the three leaders. They also agreed to hold the next tripartite summit in Cairo.
The summit has been held in the light of resuming the distinguished outcome of Cairo and Nicosia tripartite summits which were held in November 2014 and April 2015 respectively.
In the November 2014 summit, the leaders of the three countries pledged to support Egypt to combat terrorism and illegal migration while during the April summit; Sisi accepted a proposal offered by Tsipras to form a committee to re-draw the sea borders between Egypt and Greece.
On December 12, 2013, Egypt signed an agreement with Cyprus over the development of hydrocarbon reserves along the maritime border between the countries in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
The Exclusive Economic Zone is a maritime territory over which a state has special rights of exploration and use of its resources; Cyprus has signed several agreements with Egypt, Lebanon and Israel to use and explore the area.
