Egypt: Forum on water urges more cooperation among states

Participants in the 23rd 'partners in development' forum urged more cooperation among the Nile Basin nations. Asserting Egypt's historic Nile water rights, they warned against Israeli attempts to drive a wedge between Egypt and other Nile Basin states.

The forum opened in Cairo earlier this week and is attended by a number of university professors and political, legal and economic experts. The participants also called upon all ten Nile Basin nations to sit together and agree on fair water shares for Egypt and Sudan and praised Ethiopiàs stand in support of Egypt's rights and welcomed a cooperation agreement which the Nile Basin countries plan to sign in February. They stressed the importance of Egypt's helping Sudan to make the maximum benefit from USD 45 billion worth of investment pumped by foreign and Gulf nations into ventures in the country.