Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry ended his Gulf tour yesterday with meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman and his counterpart Adel Al Jubeir, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. Egypt completely rejects attempts by Iran to shake the stability of Arab states, Shoukry told MbS. He stressed Egypt’s strong condemnation of attacks against Riyadh by the Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen rebels, as well as an attack that recently targeted a Bahraini oil pipeline. Shoukry also met with his Omani counterpart Youssef Bin Alawi in a brief stop in Oman, according to a Facebook statement.

As for that other tiny Pariah state: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt do not want to reach a solution to end the dispute with Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said, according to Bloomberg. He said the “boycotting countries want to keep Qatar busy with the fronts they keep opening against it everywhere to hinder our policies inside and outside … But that won’t happen.’’ Al Thani also said that Qatar was “a thousand times better off” without the boycott countries, AFP says.

Maersk Group to invest in transport, energy infrastructure projects: Prime Minister Sherif Ismail met with the CEO of the Danish A.P. Moller–Maersk Group, Kim Fejfer in Cairo yesterday to discuss the company’s investment plans in Egypt, according to a Cabinet statement. Fejfer said Egypt was among 10 countries his company intends to focus on in the coming period, with plans to invest in a number of projects, particularly transport and energy infrastructure. Ismail said that negotiations with the Group over the specifics of the projects would be ongoing, especially as the government looks towards the development of the Suez Canal Economic zone and Golden Triangle area.

Egypt will be developing a trading zone along the border with Sudan in the Port Qustal area under an agreement between the Egyptian Company for Land, Dry Ports and Logistical Areas and the Trans Export Company, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The 57,000 sqm zone, which will focus on enhancing trade relations between Egypt and Sudan, will house a logistics area, land for agricultural development, and a slaughterhouse and veterinary quarry. Other facilities including a power station and integrated service station for trucks.

Egypt signed three cooperation agreements on tourism, healthcare, and youth and sports during Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s state visit in Cairo yesterday , an Ittihadiya statement says. Lungu met with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to discuss bilateral ties in trade, economy, and investment. Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Mohamed Hegazy also met with Zambian Army Commander Paul Mihova, according to an Armed Forces statement.