CAIRO, April 15 (KUNA) -- Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi met on Tuesday with Secretary General of the Arab Energy Organization (AEO) Jamal Al-Loughani, discuss ways to deepen Arab integration in the fields of oil, gas, and energy.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Petroleum, the meeting took place during Al-Loughani's visit to Cairo to assess opportunities for enhanced cooperation between the organization and Egypt's petroleum sector entities.
The discussions focused on the ongoing efforts to restructure the AEO and launch a set of impactful initiatives aimed at modernizing its functions.
These efforts follow directives from the organization's ministerial council during its meeting last December, with the objective of elevating its role in addressing the challenges facing member states and the energy industry both regionally and globally.
Minister Badawi welcomed Al-Loughani to Egypt and reaffirmed Egypt's full support for the organization's development and restructuring initiatives, which he described as a fresh starting point.
He emphasized the importance of leveraging these efforts to boost regional cooperation among Arab countries in the energy sector and to foster partnerships between institutions and companies to achieve mutual benefit, which would help maximize the use of the vast resources and expertise of member states and accelerate project development and economic growth across the region.
Minister Badawi also outlined the key pillars of Egypt's petroleum strategy, which include increasing production, maximizing infrastructure utilization, advancing the mining sector, diversifying energy sources to ensure an optimal energy mix, enhancing safety, improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions, and deepening regional cooperation.
He noted that these pillars serve as a solid foundation for fostering collaboration and creating new Arab partnerships across various energy domains, and among his proposals was the establishment of a "Center of Excellence" under the organization's new structure to serve as a platform for sharing member countries' expertise and capabilities.
Minister Badawi further highlighted the strategic importance of developing a unified Arab vision for exporting to European markets, taking advantage of Egypt's geographic position as a gateway to Europe.
He used the Sumed pipeline as a an example of a successful model of Arab energy integration, facilitating the transport of crude oil from Arab producers to Europe via Egypt, and also serving as a strategic storage solution.
He also pointed to the successful Egypt-Saudi Arabia electricity interconnection project as another example of effective regional collaboration.
On his part, AEO Secretary-General Al-Loughani reviewed the organization's current restructuring efforts, which are being carried out in cooperation with a joint team of experts from member states.
These steps aim to modernize the organization and launch a wide range of initiatives to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving energy landscape.
He emphasized the need to capitalize on the capabilities and resources available across the Arab world and to enhance collaboration through future projects that promote the optimal use of energy resources.
He also stressed the importance of expanding knowledge sharing, sharing expertise, and conducting research in cooperation with Arab universities and academic institutions.
Al-Loughani praised the Egyptian Ministry's clear vision and integrated strategy, noting its value in supporting the goals of the organization's restructuring process, and Egypt's ongoing support and commitment to the organization's development efforts.
During his visit, the Secretary-General will continue holding meetings in Cairo to explore collaboration opportunities between the AEO and various Egyptian petroleum sector entities including the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), the Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM), and ENPPI, particularly in areas of training and human resource development.
ENPPI is currently implementing specialized training programs in partnership with the Arab Energy Organization. (end) aff.dss