Agriculture and Land Reclamation Minister Essam Fayed received Irish Parliament Speaker and agriculture minister Se?n ? Feargha?l and his parliamentary accompanying delegation, currently visiting Egypt.

The two sides probed means of promoting cooperation between Egypt and Ireland in number of fields including agriculture and animal production.

The minister stressed the importance of relations binding the two countries especially in the agricultural scientific research domain and exchanging expertise in that field.

Fayed said that the Irish side demanded resuming exportation of cattle to Egypt as before, adding that Ireland used to export 255,000 cattle head annually to the country.

The minister underlined that Egypt welcomes this cooperation, expressing hope that Ireland would put into consideration the standards of safety and quality to protect the citizens.

Fayed suggested that the Irish firms work in producing seeds in Egypt the matter which will contribute to increasing the local production, adding that the current political leadership and government work on improving the investment atmosphere in the country and provide the needed facilitation to encourage investors especially in the agricultural field.

The minister told the Irish delegation that Egypt works on implementing two national ventures which are developing livestock production and establishing 100,000 greenhouses, adding that Egypt pays attention also to setting up fish farms.

Fayed reiterated that Egypt welcomes cooperation with Ireland in the domain of agricultural research via Egypt's Agricultural Research Center and its Irish counterpart.

It was agreed to form a joint committee to outline an executive plan to boost bilateral cooperation as soon as possible, the minister underscored.

Source: MENA