Monday 06 April 2026 – 04:53 PM
He met with Dr. Hani Sweilem, Minister Water resources and irrigationwith Nizar Baraka, Minister of Equipment and Water of the Kingdom of Morocco, to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries in the field of water resources management.
Dr. Sweilem expressed his welcome to his Moroccan counterpart, stressing Egypt’s keenness to enhance joint cooperation in the field of sustainable management of water resources, based on the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries on the sidelines of the COP28 climate conference in December 2023, which includes the areas of rain and flood water harvesting, management of water facilities, agricultural wastewater treatment, adaptation to climate change, training and capacity building, and water desalination.
He stressed Egypt’s interest in benefiting from the pioneering Moroccan experience in involving the private sector in water desalination projects for the purposes of intensive food production, especially in light of Egypt’s move towards implementing the “second generation of the Egyptian Water System 2.0,” in which treatment, digital transformation, and smart water management are among its most prominent axes. On the other hand, the Moroccan minister expressed his interest in benefiting from advanced and pioneering Egyptian experience in the field of treating and reusing agricultural wastewater.
The meeting also discussed ways to enhance cooperation within the framework of the international initiative to adapt to climate change (AWARe), where the two sides praised the progress achieved in preparing a “regional study on water desalination using renewable energy for irrigation purposes,” which includes Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan, with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Dr. Sweilem also expressed Egypt’s aspiration for the Kingdom of Morocco to benefit from the initiative’s activities, especially in the areas of early warning of hydrological phenomena, training and capacity building through the Ministry’s Regional Training Center.
During the meeting, the ongoing preparations for holding the United Nations Water Conference 2026 were reviewed, where the two ministers agreed on the importance of unifying Egyptian-Moroccan visions in international forums, in a way that strengthens the Arab and African voices in formulating the global water agenda. The two sides also stressed joint coordination under the umbrella of the activities of the “African Water Ministers Council” (AMCO), with regard to following up on the implementation of the African Water Vision and Policy 2063, and preparing its implementation plan in a way that takes into account the priorities of member states and achieving consensus between them, as well as cooperation under the umbrella of the “African Water Facility”, which Egypt currently chairs, in implementation of the facility’s strategy for the period (2026-2030), which was approved in Cairo in November 2025.
Dr. Sweilem also invited his Moroccan counterpart to participate in the activities of the “Ninth Cairo Water Week,” scheduled to be held from October 25 to 29, 2026, under the slogan “Water as a Catalyst for Peace, Shared Prosperity and a Sustainable Planet,” which will also witness the holding of the “Seventh Arab Water Conference.”
