Russia sees Egypt’s peace initiative as the primary forum in which Libya’s future will be decided, Reuters reports, piggybacking on a call between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and President Abdel Fattah El Sisi yesterday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also backing Cairo’s initiative even as forces loyal to Libya’s UN-recognised government said they would press ahead with an offensive to capture territory in the country’s west, the Guardian and the Associated Press report.

Meanwhile:

• Local development program: The International Cooperation Ministry has launched the EGP 111 mn second phase of a program to develop pavements as well as water and sanitation networks in Alexandria, Assiut, Giza, Port Said and Sharqiyah. The program is funded by the European Union and the European Investment Bank, among other parties.
• Cotton exports dropped 9.52% y-o-y during the second quarter of the agricultural season (December 2019- February 2020) to 1.2 mn qintars, compared to 3.6 mn qintars during the same period last year, according to a Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics release (pdf).