ALGIERS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia met on Thursday with the Egyptian Ambassador in Algiers Ayman Mosharafa to discuss cooperation between the two countries and a joint committee meeting that is set to be held later this year.
In statements to Egypt's official MENA news agency, Mosharafa said that the two discussed bilateral ties and means to further develop them in various domains.
"The strong relations between Algiers and Cairo showed clearly in a visit by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to Algeria in the first ever international tour he had made immediately after assuming office in 2014," the ambassador said.
"The higher joint committee meeting will be held in the second half of the current year," said Mosharafa, adding that a joint businessmen council will also be formed.
Ouyahia praised the role of the Egyptian companies operating in Algeria, calling for increasing their numbers and domains in the Arab country, according to Mosharafa.
In December last year, President of the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mohammed Al-Eid bin Omer said the intra-trade with Egypt will be doubled to one billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2020.
On the sidelines of the Egyptian-Algerian business forum organized by the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce, he said the trade exchange between the two countries now stood at 470 million dollars a year.
