President Hakainde Hichilema has held bilateral talks with his counterpart, AbdeL Fattah el-sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. 

Top on the agenda was on the need for strengthened bilateral ties between the two countries in key sectors such as agriculture, health infrastructure, tourism, energy, aquaculture, among others. 

The two leaders who are also members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), agreed on increased trade and investment through joint ventures in many sectors. 

President Hichilema acknowledged the fast rate of development by Egypt which Zambia can draw positive lessons from.

The Head of State noted that despite Egypt being largely a desert, they are food secure because of the innovative ways in which they have strategically invested in water harvesting mechanism, improved crop varieties that increase productivity. 

The two leaders called for increased cooperation, trade and investment among African countries as a sure way of achieving economic resilience within the continent and reducing outside shocks brought by instability elsewhere. 

During the same engagement, President Hichilema introduced Dr Samuel Maimbo, as the candidate for the position of African Development Bank (ADB) President, and requested support from Egypt and other countries in the North African region. 

This is contained in a press statement issued to ZANIS by State House Communications Specialist, Clayson Hamasaka