Europe and the Med. depend on each other for security - de Marco

There could not be security and stability in the Mediterranean unless there was security and stability in Europe, and there could not be security and stability in Europe unless there was security and stability in the Mediterranean, President Guido de Marco said yesterday.

Prof. de Marco underlined this at a joint news conference with President Hosni Mubarak at the end of talks held yesterday at the Presidential Palace in Cairo.

The President is in Egypt on a two-day visit.

Several international issues, among them Euro-Med relations, the developments in the Middle East peace process and the present situation in Iraq, were discussed during their official meeting. They also discussed ways to encourage trade and private investments.

The President and Mrs de Marco were later hosted to a luncheon in their honour by the President of Egypt and Mrs Mubarak, and then visited the Giza Pyramids.

The President's visit will continue today with a meeting with Prime Minister Atef Abeid, the Speaker of the People's Assembly Mr Fathi Surour and the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Amre Moussa.

The President will also be visiting the Bank of Valletta representative office in Cairo and delivering a lecture at the Mubarak Library.

The delegation includes Chamber of Commerce president Reginald Fava, the chairman of Malta Enterprise Joe Zammit Tabona, and the deputy president of the Malta Federation of Industry, Joseph Pace. The business delegation yesterday had meetings with the Federation of the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce and the Cairo Chamber of Commerce.