Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla held talks with the Belgian ambassador in Cairo François Cornet d’Elzius, Port of Antwerp Managing Director Kristof Waterschoot, and his accompanying delegation, Petroleum Ministry announced.

The talks tackled ways to enhance cooperation with the Port of Antwerp in the fields of petroleum ports development, logistics services, and capacity building.

El-Molla stressed that the sector has a distinguished infrastructure, including 12 petroleum ports spread across the various governorates of the country, and that preparations are currently underway to implement extensive development operations in these ports. Furthermore, he noted that infrastructure development is an important element in the national strategy to transform Egypt into a regional energy trading hub.

The past period witnessed mutual visits between work teams from both sides, whether in the Belgian port or Egypt’s petroleum ports, to discuss opportunities for bilateral cooperation. This came in line with the memoranda of understanding signed with the European Union for joint energy cooperation, El Molla said.

For his part, Waterschoot affirmed their full readiness to provide expertise, technical advice, and management services in the framework of the petroleum sector’s ambitious efforts to develop its ports. In addition to offering capacity-building training, the Port of Antwerp will assess the possibility of conducting feasibility studies for river transport, which is one of the largest and cheapest transport activities in Europe at the time.

The meeting was attended by Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) Chairman Magdy Galal and Assistant Minister for Transport and Distribution of Petroleum Products Mahmoud Nagy.