Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieddin conferred on Friday 4/7/2008 with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)'s new chairman Sindiso Negwenya on bilateral cooperation.

Negwenya underlined the importance of Egypt's role in supporting COMESA and its activities, referring to the fact that Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) has hosted the COMESA regional investment agency. Egypt can market investment opportunities within the COMESA, he said.

The newly elected COMESA secretary general underlined the need to carry out agricultural projects in the body's member states to be able to face the global food crisis.

The Investment Minister said Africa possesses great economic potentials including agriculture.

Infrastructure to serve this vital sector must be first set up. Roads, airports and other means of transport must be set up to lure huge investments in the agriculture sector.

World countries' interest in the continent is growing due to its potentials and the investment opportunities it offers, he said.

The COMESA is made up of twenty countries: Egypt, Angola, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Seychelles and Libya.