Sudan, Egypt underscore importance of border crossings

Sudan and Egypt on Wednesday underscored importance of border crossings as a gateway for economic integration between them.

The sixth meeting of the technical border crossings committee between the two countries began in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Wednesday, co-chaired by undersecretaries of Sudan's Foreign Ministry and Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation.

"The committee has stressed the importance of what has been achieved via the inauguration of Qostol-Ashkit border crossing between Sudan and Egypt," Abdul-Ghani Al-Naeem, Undersecretary of Sudan's Foreign Ministry, told reporters after the meeting.

Fathy Mahmoud Abdel Azim, Undersecretary of Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation, said "we are currently working to fix a date for the inauguration of the second border crossing, Arqain crossing."

He said the new crossing will boost the trade and movement of commodities from Egypt to the whole Africa, together with the movement of the Sudanese commodities to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea.

The two-day meetings are set to evaluate the work of the Qostol-Ashkit crossing, which was inaugurated in August last year, and discuss the work progress in the implementation of Arqain border crossing. Endit