Cairo: On the sidelines of the eighth Cairo Water Week (CWW), Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sweilam, met with Mansour bin Hilal Al-Mushaiti, Saudi Deputy Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation in water resource management. The high-level meeting emphasized the robust relationship between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, particularly in the water sector, where technical exchanges have been increasingly active.

According to State Information Service Egypt, Deputy Minister Al-Mushaiti conveyed greetings from Saudi Minister Abdulrahman Al-Fadley and reaffirmed Riyadh’s commitment to deepening cooperation on strategic water issues. He highlighted the importance of joint efforts in addressing shared challenges related to water scarcity, technology transfer, and sustainability.

Minister Sweilam expressed Egypt’s full support for Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the 11th World Water Forum in 2027, offering Cairo’s technical and institutional expertise to assist with preparations. He noted that this collaboration will contribute to global solutions for water and climate-related challenges.

The meeting also reviewed progress under a bilateral memorandum of understanding on water resource management, which has launched joint activities focusing on advanced technologies, wastewater treatment and reuse, seawater desalination for intensive food production, and climate change adaptation strategies.

As part of this ongoing cooperation, preparations are underway for an Egyptian delegation to visit Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahsa desalination facility to gain insights from Saudi expertise. Concurrently, a Saudi technical team is scheduled to visit Egypt to collaborate on the design and implementation of flood-risk protection and rainwater-harvesting projects.

This engagement underscores growing regional efforts to enhance knowledge exchange, build climate resilience, and foster sustainable water solutions amid escalating environmental challenges.