President Hosni Mubarak held a session of talks in Ireland Thursday with his Irish counterpart Mary McAleese for boosting economic cooperation and increasing the Irish investments in Egypt and the Egyptian exports to Ireland.

President Mubarak and Mrs. Mubarak arrived at the Irish Presidential Headquarters in Dublin Thursday afternoon where they were welcomed by President McAleese and her husband Dr. Martin McAleese.

The President was accorded a red carpet reception.

Then the two leaders held a session of talks that covered a number of Arab and international issues of mutual concern and means to develop Egyptian-Irish relations.

After the talks the Irish President gave a luncheon in honour of the Egyptian leader, his wife and their entourage.

The President left to the Cabinet headquarters where he held a session of talks with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahren at the Irish government headquarters in Dublin.

The talks dealt with the latest developments in the Palestinian Question and conditions in Iraq and Lebanon. The two sides' talks also tackled Darfur crisis, Iran's nuclear file and conditions in Iraq especially after the issuance of Baker- Hamilton report.

Mubarak also discussed with Ahren bilateral relations and means to push forward economic cooperation and increase investments between the two countries.

Members of the delegation accompanying the President and senior Irish officials joined the talks.

President Mubarak also met in Dublin with Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul- Gheit, Egypt's Ambassador to Ireland Ibrahim Khairat and Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awwad.

In statements to the Egyptian newspapers and MENA 's editors-in-chief, Abul-Gheit said his Irish counterpart Dermot Ahern will pay a visit to Egypt in January.

He said they agreed that a large group of Irish businessmen would accompany the Irish FM during the visit for talks on means of promoting cooperation in the various economic fields.

Abul-Gheit proposed to the Irish side dispatching 5,000 Egyptian professionals to work in Ireland for a specific time in order to reinforce bilateral cooperation.

Minister of Trade and Industry Rasheed Mohamed Rasheed, on his part, said the talks of the Egyptian delegation with the Irish officials covered ways of backing cooperation in the fields of agriculture, trade and scientific research, especially that some 1,000 foreign companies were working in Ireland.

Rasheed said the talks also tackled prospects of importing meat from Ireland as Egypt had imported Irish meat with a value of $ 200 million until 2003.

An agreement was also reached regarding the visit of the Irish businessmen delegation to Egypt to explore new fields of cooperation between the two countries, added Rasheed.

The talks also dealt with operating a direct flight between Egypt and Ireland in order to encourage trade and economic movement, he said.

Rasheed pointed out that the Irish side voiced a strong desire to support cooperation with Egypt in the various fields in appreciation of Egypt and President Mubarak's role in backing regional causes.

Emerging from his meeting with President Mubarak, the Irish FM said the one-hour talks dwelt on a number of regional and international issues of mutual concern.

He said the talks covered political and economic aspects.

Talks with Mubarak will help give an impetus to ties between Cairo and Dublin, said Ahern.

Palestinian and Darfur developments topped the agenda of the talks, said the Irish top diplomat, adding they were two significant issues in Ireland.

Responding to a question on President Mubarak's views on the two cases, Ahern said they have exchanged views on the two issues.

More expanded talks can take place in the UN and the EU, he said.

Egypt, under President Mubarak, plays a pivotal role in the Middle East region, according to Ahern.

On future aspects of cooperation between the two countries, the foreign minister said several steps are being taken to further develop their cooperation especially in the economic domain.

A delegation of Irish businessmen will visit Egypt soon to probe means of enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries, he said.

Presidential Spokesman Suliman Awwad said Thursday that the President's talks focused on raising the trade exchange currently stood at $ 75 million, and Egypt's pursuance to transfer the Irish technology especially in the information technology domain.