(MENAFN- Daily News Egypt) Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with his Somali counterpart Abdusalam Abdi Ali on Monday to discuss strengthening their strategic partnership, including the deployment of Egyptian troops to the African Union's support and stability mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), the Egyptian foreign ministry said.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the fifth Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development.

In a statement, the ministry said Abdelatty welcomed the progress on deploying Egyptian forces to the mission and renewed Egypt's commitment to supporting efforts to enhance security and stability in Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa region. He called for the procedures for the deployment to be completed as soon as possible and stressed the importance of working with international partners to secure sustainable funding for the mission.

Abdelatty also renewed Egypt's commitment to supporting the building of Somali state institutions and efforts to achieve security, emphasizing the importance of Somali unity in facing current security challenges. He stressed the need to enhance cooperation in combating terrorism and extremism, which he described as among the most prominent threats to regional security.

On the economic front, Abdelatty praised the growing momentum in bilateral relations and expressed Egypt's keenness to hold a second Egypt-Somalia Business Forum soon to enhance cooperation in security, diplomacy, economy, investment, health, and trade.

For his part, the Somali foreign minister expressed his appreciation for Egypt's supportive role at all levels and affirmed his country's keenness to enhance relations with Egypt to serve the common interests of the two nations.

The two ministers agreed to continue coordination in regional and international forums to confront common challenges facing the Horn of Africa, the statement said.

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