President Hosni Mubarak and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame held important summit talks in Cairo on Thursday 5/11/2009 on the situation in the Great Lakes Region and its impact on the Nile upstream states. They also discussed Egyptian, African and international efforts to promote stability and security in the region as well as regional and African issues of mutual concern.

The two sides further probed cooperation among Nile Basin states and the Nile Basin Initiative. Presidents Mubarak and Kagame also discussed issues to be tabled on the agenda of the Fourth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which the Egyptian President and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will open in Egypt 's Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday. Their summit talks also addressed African issues such as the food crisis, desertification, debts and African cooperation at international forums.

The two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation in the spheres of agriculture, irrigation, technical and scientific sectors as well as the establishment of joint infrastructure projects for health and pharmaceuticals.

The Rwandan president was accorded an official welcome upon arrival at the Heliopolis presidential palace. Presidents Mubarak and Kagame resumed their summit talks over a working luncheon the Egyptian leader hosted in honor of his Rwandan guest. Attending the working luncheon from the Egyptian side were the prime minister and the ministers of defense, foreign affairs, agriculture and water resources and irrigation as well as Minister Omar Soliman, the presidential Cabinet chief and the Egyptian ambassador to Rwanda . Present from the Rwandan side were the foreign minister and the president's accompanying delegation.