US Ambassador Stephen Beecroft visited Port Said over the weekend to meet with Egyptian shipping company representatives regarding recurrent transits of the canal by US vessels. “The Suez Canal is a vital waterway that is crucial to the global economy and regional and international security … I am pleased to be here and to see firsthand the role it plays in global affairs. I appreciate the support of the Egyptian authorities in making this visit possible,” Beecroft said in an embassy statement. US naval vessels enjoy priority access to the Suez Canal.

Egypt is committed to cooperating with Nile Basin countries to protect all countries’ water rights, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi told journalists from 25 African countries yesterday, Al Shorouk reports. The journalists were in town to participate in a workshop organized by the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development, which is run by the Foreign Ministry.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri will be heading a delegation of 40 companies visiting Cairo on 22 March to discuss increasing Lebanese exports to Egypt to reach USD 1 bn from a current USD 700 mn, Egyptian-Lebanese Business Council member Fouad Hadraj said, Al Borsa reports.

Egypt could benefit from Turkey’s expertise in a number of industrial sectors, including the auto industry, Chairman of the Egyptian-Turkish Business Council Mesut Toprak said, Youm7 reports. The council convened yesterday for the first time in three years, with 11 Turkish companies in attendance.

The World Bank will disburse in April the first USD 12 mn tranche of its USD 500 mn loan to finance the Upper Egypt development program to the Qena governorate, World Bank Vice President for Global Practices Jan Walliser told Qena’s governor yesterday, Ahram Gate reports.