ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq is to host a summit with Jordan and Egypt in Baghdad, with the President of Egypt, Abdel-Fatteh al-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan welcomed by President Barham Salih on Sunday morning.
“The President and his Egyptian counterpart held a session of bilateral talks, where President Barham Salih welcomed President Sisi, stressing that the visit is an important and major step in supporting Iraq and strengthening joint bilateral relations,” read a statement from Salih’s office published to Telegram.
“The importance of enhancing the level of coordination between the three countries and benefiting from geographical contiguity in developing broader cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and development, establishing infrastructure projects, energy transmission and laying oil pipelines, were discussed,” the statement added.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also welcomed the leaders in a tweet.
After Abdullah's arrival, Kadhimi and the Jordanian monarch discussed "ways to enhance bilateral relations and joint cooperation" in the economic, political and security sectors, according to a tweet from the PM's office.
A similar discussion was held with Sisi.
The leaders of all three countries met in Amman last year.
Under former Iraqi PM Adil Abdul Mahdi, Iraq placed emphasis on cooperation and improved relations with neighboring countries - including Egypt and Jordan.
Iraq and Jordan signed an agreement in February 2019 through which Iraq would lift tariffs on Jordanian products, while Jordan would buy 10,000 barrels of oil per day from Iraq.
Iraq, Jordan and Egypt agreed on closer economic cooperation in March 2019, when a first summit was held in Cairo.
The Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research signed a three-year deal with Egypt to strengthen collaboration between universities in both countries back in November, a month after a series of agreements was signed between both countries.
Updated at 2:52pm
