Roundup: Egypt signs MoUs, contracts with Libya's unity government

Cairo (Egypt), September 17: Egypt and Libya's unity government signed 14 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and six infrastructure contracts on Thursday, according to a statement from Egypt's cabinet.
The cooperation agreements were signed during a visit by Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who is heading a 30-minister delegation in Cairo to participate in the meetings of the Egyptian-Libyan Joint Higher Committee.
The 14 MoUs cover sectors of industry, transportation, hydrocarbons, sport, oil, agriculture, communications, and civil aviation, the statement said.
Meanwhile, infrastructure contracts were signed between the Libyan government and tycoon Egyptian companies including Orascom and Hassan Allam.
The contracts cover the third ring road around the Libyan capital Tripoli, another road linking Jalu to the eastern town of Ajdabiya, and the designing, construction and supply of two gas plants.
Earlier, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi voiced Egypt's readiness to provide necessary means to help Libyans pave the required climate to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections slated at the end of the year.
"Sisi stressed the highest priority that Egypt attaches to restoring stability in Libya and empowering the war-torn country to restore its regional and international role," a statement by the presidency office said.
The two leaders discussed the recent developments in Libya, especially the issuance of the election law, as an important step for holding the parliamentary and presidential elections on time, set at the end of 2021, the statement added.
The statement stressed Egypt's firm stance for respecting Libyan sovereignty, preserving its territorial integrity, and rejecting all forms of foreign interference in internal affairs.
"Egypt is also keen on reinvigorating the Libyan national institutions and unifying the army to protect the people's resources and enforce their free will," it added.
The Egyptian president hailed the efforts of the Dbeibah government for improving people's living conditions, expressing confidence in the Libyan people's ability to overcome the ongoing challenges in order to "rebuild a strong modern state," according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Dbeibah said that he valued the important Egyptian role to consolidate peace and stability in Libya.
"After years-long instability that heavily hit the influx of Egyptian workers to Libya, Egypt is likely to take a large share in the reconstruction projects in the war-torn country," said Hamdi Imam, chairman of the Division of Recruitment Companies at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce.
"Libya will need at least 3 million workers, mostly to be Egyptians, for the reconstruction work when the security conditions improve in the North African country," Imam told Xinhua.
Libya has been the main destination for nearly 2 million Egyptian workers before the civil war that wreaked havoc in the country for a decade, he added.
Before the ouster and killing of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011, Egyptian workers were allowed to enter and reside there with Egyptian national IDs, the expert added.
Later in a televised press conference, Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said that Egypt is keen to boost the steps of the development, providing all kinds of support including political, logistics, economic and others to meet the aspiration of Libyan people.
He described the day as "historical" because the Egyptian-Libyan Joint Higher Committee convened after 12 years of hiatus.
Source: Xinhua