Minister of International Cooperation Sahr Nasr conferred on Saturday with Head of the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone Ahmed Darwish.

They discussed proposals and international expertise in the development of the economic zone in cooperation with international development partners in light of the strategic and economic importance of the Suez Canal development project and the support of its government to its development plans.

During the meeting, Nasr asserted that the ministry is keen on providing necessary funds for the projects of top priority and removing any hardships ahead of them as well as accelerating the implementation of the projects which have already received funds through development partners to serve all state sectors.

She also said preparations are under way for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Egypt in early January, noting that China is deeply interested in taking part in funding of the projects of the Economic Zone.

Darwish, for his part, posted the minister on his visions and proposals that could be raised to the Chinese partner to discuss means of putting into effect the Chinese grants especially those related to infrastructure of information technology and communication in the Economic Zone of Suez Canal.

He also praised the efforts exerted by the international cooperation ministry in coordination with development partners to provide all-out support to development projects.

The two sides also agreed on working out an initial outline for the proposals of developing Suez Canal Economic Zone to be presented to Nasr as soon as possible in order to be assessed before being presented to the Chinese side to be included on a list of projects that will be negotiated during the visit to the Chinese president to Egypt.