Egyptian-Sudanese ministerial council meets for talks on agri ban, joint railway project: Egypt and Sudan’s agriculture ministers Ezzedin Abu Steit and Abdallah Soliman met yesterday to look into lifting Sudan’s ban on imports of Egyptian agricultural products, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The ban, which has been in place since May 2017, was not a result of “technical problems,” Abu Steit said, urging Soliman to review quality reports and lift the ban. Transport Minister Hisham Arafat also met with his Sudanese counterpart Ibrahim Youssef Mohamed to discuss plans to construct a railway line connecting Egypt and Sudan. The two ministers agreed to hold a technical committee meeting in Khartoum at a later date to look into the details of the project.

The Egyptian-Sudanese Trade Committee is also set to meet in Cairo next month to look into improving economic trade and relations ahead of a planned meeting between presidents Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Omar Al Bashir the following month, Trade and Industry Minister Amr Nassar said yesterday, according to a ministry statement.