Technical committee on the Cyprus-Egypt joint gas pipeline project to meet mid-September

The technical committee that is working on the preparations for a joint gas pipeline project between Cyprus and Egypt will convene on September 15, the office of the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Natasa Pilides said.

The minister said she was very satisfied with her meetings in Cairo on Saturday at the first Intergovernmental Summit between the two countries.

The Energy Ministers of Cyprus and Egypt also decided on Saturday to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the electricity interconnection between the two countries in the coming months. A business mission will also travel from Cyprus to Egypt to increase the trade of goods and services.

Discussions between Pelides and Egyptian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Tarek El Molla as well as Nevine Gamea, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Arab Republic of Egypt in the framework of the first Intergovernmental Summit were “very constructive and totally productive”, a press release said.

“The minister is very satisfied with the decisions taken to promote a series of important policies between the two countries and expressed certainty that progress will be made in the next months on many of these issues”, it added.

Regarding energy, the ministers called for expediting the deliberations of the joint committee which has been instructed to implement the intergovernmental agreement for the construction of a direct underwater pipeline to transfer natural gas from the offshore Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus to liquefaction plants (which convert gas into a liquid state) in Egypt.

Within this framework, a meeting of the relevant technical committees will convene in Cairo on September 15 and examine the various scenarios regarding the capacity, technical specifications, and economic aspects of the pipeline.

Both Egypt and Cyprus expressed their commitment to further promote the international organisation «East Mediterranean Gas Forum» (EMGF), where the two countries participate as founding members. The hard work that has taken place in the first year since it was set up, has led to the participation of eight countries and three more as observers including the US and the EU.

Cyprus has assured that when it undertakes the presidency of the EMGF from January 1, 2022, it will work in coordination with the Egyptian side to implement the common goals for the efficient use of the energy resources of member states as well transition to green energy, the statement added.

One of the most important decisions of yesterday’s contacts in Cairo, the statement said, was the memorandum of understanding that will be signed in the next months for the electricity interconnection between the two countries. Pilides has invited her counterpart to pay an official visit to Cyprus to sign the memorandum. The trilateral Memorandum of Understanding between Cyprus, Egypt and Greece will then be planned, to promote the electricity interconnection of the three countries through the «EuroAfrica Interconnector» project.

Moreover, based on the Cyprus-Egypt in the Field of Electricity and Renewable Energy Sources, it was agreed to exchange know-how in these sectors, especially on the use of solar thermal and photovoltaic systems, as well as green hydrogen production.
In the field of trade, it was agreed to set up at regular intervals business forums to strengthen bonds between the two chambers of commerce. The aim, Pilides said, is to increase trade in services and goods, especially pharmaceuticals and aquaculture products. In the first stage, a business meeting will be held in Cairo in the next few months with Cypriot and Egyptian business people in areas of common interest.