Egypt, Lebanon sign 15 deals covering trade, transport, social development
Egypt and Lebanon signed 15 memoranda of understanding and cooperation protocols on Sunday across a broad range of sectors — from economic policy and trade to education, agriculture and civil service reform.
Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam witnessed the signing ceremony at the close of the 10th session of the Egyptian–Lebanese Joint Higher Committee held in Cairo, reaffirming both nations’ commitment to deepening economic and institutional cooperation.
The agreements included:
- Economic policy and development planning: An MoU between Egypt’s Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation and Lebanon’s Ministry of Economy and Trade on coordination of economic and development policy, and the exchange of expertise.
- Planning cooperation: An MoU between Egypt’s National Institute for Planning and Lebanon’s Ministry of Economy and Trade for collaboration from 2025 to 2027.
- Local development: An MoU between Egypt’s Ministry of Local Development and Lebanon’s Ministry of Interior and Municipalities to enhance cooperation on local governance and community development.
- Civil aviation training: A protocol between the Holding Company for the Egyptian Aviation Academy, Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to boost training and capacity-building in the aviation sector.
- Social protection: An MoU between Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity and Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs to explore cooperation on social welfare programs.
- Maritime transport: A bilateral agreement between the two governments to enhance cooperation in maritime transport and port operations.
- Industrial cooperation: An executive programme under the existing protocol on industrial collaboration, focusing on boosting joint manufacturing initiatives.
- Technical education: An MoU between Egypt’s Ministry of Education and Technical Education and Lebanon’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education to strengthen vocational and technical training systems.
- Agricultural research: An MoU between Egypt’s Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture to cooperate in agricultural research and innovation.
- Housing and urban development: An MoU between Egypt’s Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities and Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs to exchange expertise in housing policy and urban planning.
- Customs cooperation: An MoU between the Egyptian Customs Authority and Lebanese Customs Administration for cooperation on taxation, customs operations, and mutual assistance in enforcement.
- Diplomatic visa exemption: A draft MoU for mutual exemption of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports.
- Financial and regulatory cooperation: An MoU between Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) and Lebanon’s Insurance Control Commission to exchange information and strengthen market oversight.
- Public administration reform: A cooperation protocol between Egypt’s Central Agency for Organisation and Administration and Lebanon’s Civil Service Council on governance and public sector modernisation.
- Consumer protection: An MoU between Egypt’s Consumer Protection Agency and Lebanon’s Ministry of Economy and Trade to coordinate market surveillance and safeguard consumer rights.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, both prime ministers signed the official record of the 10th committee session and pledged to accelerate the implementation of the agreements.
The committee meetings, which brought together senior ministers from both sides, are part of efforts to strengthen Egypt–Lebanon relations and expand cooperation in trade, investment, and reconstruction.
Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English
Subediting: Y.Yasser