Ndjamena hosted the 4th Egypt-Chad Joint Commission meeting on Thursday, co-chaired by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Chadian counterpart, Abdullah Saber Fadl.
This session brought together several members of both governments to explore ways to deepen bilateral cooperation and open new avenues for partnership.
During the opening session, Mr. Abdelatty highlighted the progress made in establishing the “El Gran Corridor” company, which primarily involves Egyptian and Chadian private partners and aims to develop logistics platforms, large-scale agricultural projects, and the meat export sector in Chad.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister also commended the achievements of the Egyptian medical mission deployed to Chad last April, which performed over 500 surgical procedures in N’Djamena, inaugurated a dialysis centre at the central hospital, and provided new medical equipment to the Chadian authorities.
He announced the completion of construction on the Alexandria University campus in N’Djamena and reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to continuing its capacity-building programs for Chad through the Egyptian Development Partnership Agency and the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding.
The Minister also highlighted the significant opportunities for cooperation offered by the Business Forum held on the sidelines of the joint commission, particularly in the energy, infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, education, investment, and pharmaceutical sectors.
He advocated an expansion of scholarships for Chadian students at Egyptian universities and for strengthening academic and scientific partnerships between the two countries.
For his part, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir reaffirmed Egypt’s support for Chad’s development projects, particularly the road corridor project linking Egypt to Chad via Libya, which he described as a strategic axis for economic integration between North and Central Africa.
The Egyptian Minister of Health, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, highlighted the close health cooperation between the two countries, emphasising the opening of a dialysis centre equipped with 25 machines, donated by Egypt, as well as Cairo’s “readiness to continue sending medical missions, training Chadian healthcare personnel, and treating Chadian patients in Egyptian hospitals.”
The Chadian Minister of Higher Education, Abdel Aziz Konsowa, indicated that the new campus of Alexandria University in N’Djamena will accommodate up to 6,000 students and will progressively offer new programs, notably in medicine, nursing, engineering, and computer science, with the ambition of becoming a regional university hub serving Central and West Africa.
The two parties also discussed prospects for cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism, particularly through a national museum project in Chad, the organisation of joint cultural events, and the development of medical tourism.
The work of this fourth joint commission concluded with the signing of several memoranda of understanding concerning cooperation in the areas of health, culture, tourism, and civil aviation, confirming the two countries’ commitment to giving new impetus to their strategic partnership.
MK/AK/Sf/fss/as/APA