Bashir invites Arab investments in food production in Sudan
March 13, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir participated in Egypt’s Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) which started Friday and called on Arab nations to invest in food production in his country.
Bashir’s was accompanied by the minister of presidency, Salah Wansi, foreign minister Ali Karti, finance minister Badr el-Din Mahmoud and the intelligence chief Mohamed Atta.
Bashir said in his remarks that he wants Egypt and Sudan to be the nucleus of huge animal and food production projects.
He noted the opening of border crossing with Egypt and removing tariffs and customs barriers between the two countries.
The Sudanese leader, who remains wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged Darfur war crimes charges, said that his participation in the conference stems from his country’s love to Egypt and his desire to participate in furthering the goals of this gathering.
But his appearance on stage saw an awkward moment as Kuwait’s Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and United Arab Emirates Vice President and ruler of Dubai Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum proceeded to leave the conference hall after Bashir’s name was called to take the podium and deliver his remarks.
It was not immediately clear why the two leaders chose this timing to leave. Al-Sabah has boarded the plane afterwards and returned home.
A Bloomberg reporter on Twitter said that the seat of US Secretary of State John Kerry was empty when Bashir was addressing the audience.
However, a group photo of the attendees showed Kerry standing behind Bashir.
Around 2,000 delegates from 112 nations, including 30 heads of state and executives of multinational companies will attend the event which the Egyptian government hopes will jumpstart the economy after four years of political turmoil following the 2011 uprising.
The Egyptian government plans to offer 60 investment projects worth a total of $35 billion during the three-day summit.
Arab Gulf state allies promised Egypt $12 billion in new investment and aid.
Egypt is counting on the economic summit to restore investor confidence and hopes to attract $8 billion in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) before the end of the current fiscal year ending June 30.
Sudan’s ambassador to Cairo and permanent representative at the Arab League (AL), Abdel-Haleem Abdel-Mahmood had said that Bashir’s participation in the conference comes at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and to reinforce the special relationship between Sudan and Egypt.
Abdel-Mahmood also pointed to the importance of the conference and the role of bilateral ties in achieving its goals, noting that cooperation between the two countries in areas of agriculture, food security, animal resources, industry and trade constitutes a key pillar to support their economies.
He added that economic and investment benefits gained from opening of the border crossings between the two countries has extended to the rest of the African and Arab areas.
The Sudanese ambassador said that Bashir will hold bilateral talks with several presidents participating in the conference.
Bashir will also discuss with Sisi ways for promoting bilateral ties ahead of the meeting of the joint presidential cooperation committee and the specialized technical committees between the two countries.
The participants performed Friday prayer at Al-Salam mosque in Sharm el-Sheikh with the participation of Al-Sissi and prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab and several other ministers and officials participating in the summit.
(ST)