Egypt and Sudan have agreed to act to develop cooperation in the fields of climate change, forests and other environmental issues

Agriculture Minister Salah Helal and Irrigation Minister Hossam Moghazi are in Sudan to discuss the issue.

In a meeting with the Sudanese minister of environment here Tuesday, Helal said Egypt owns 60 monitoring stations on the Red Sea coasts, not to mention research stations.

He pointed to plans to boost cooperation between the two countries in the field of training and exchanging expertise.

Moghazi touched upon cooperation between the national research center at his Ministry in Egypt and the Sudanese Environment Ministry.

The national research center, he said, includes 11 research institutes whose job it is to follow up climate change and its direct impact on the water resources of Egypt and Sudan.

Moghazi said his Ministry will be offering five scholarships to Sudanese cadres specialized in climate change, noting that this will be coordinated with the Egyptian Embassy in Khartoum.

He considered this a good step toward bolstering joint cooperation and exchanging information and expertise between the two countries.

Hassan Hilal, the Sudanese Environment Minister, stressed the importance of activating cooperation with Cairo.

He asked Moghazi to share the environmental information needed about the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in order to conduct accurate environmental and scientific studies about t6he project, which concerns Egypt and Sudan in the first place.