KARACHI: Pakistan and Egypt this week expanded their bilateral engagements across defense, economic and investment domains as senior officials from both nations held a series of meetings in Islamabad and Cairo, according to official statements.

Egypt’s foreign minister, Dr. Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty, is in Pakistan for talks on security, trade and diplomatic ties, a visit that has included meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.

On Monday, Munir and Abdelatty discussed military-to-military cooperation, training programs and regional security, the Pakistani military said.

“The discussions reaffirmed the commitment of both sides to strengthen coordination and deepen the long-standing ties in defense and broader strategic domains,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The Egyptian foreign minister conveyed Cairo’s continued interest in scaling up cooperation “across all spheres,” according to the ISPR, with both sides underscoring the need for sustained high-level exchanges amid shifting regional security dynamics.

Separately, Pakistan’s commerce minister Jam Kamal Khan met in Cairo on Monday with Eng. Ahmed Elsewedy, President and CEO of Elsewedy Electric, one of Egypt’s largest multinational industrial groups, to discuss deeper commercial engagement.

Khan briefed Elsewedy on “significant growth potential” in Pakistan’s mining sector, citing recent policy reforms, investor-friendly regulations and expanding public–private partnership avenues, a statement by the Pakistan Press Information Department said. He also highlighted opportunities in Pakistan’s rapidly growing technology and IT-services sector and invited Egyptian companies to explore digital partnerships.

Elsewedy Electric “expressed satisfaction with its current investment in Pakistan,” according to the PID statement, and conveyed interest in expanding cooperation, according to the Pakistani statement. Both sides agreed to continue talks aimed at boosting industrial and investment ties.

During a meeting with Abdelatty on Sunday, President Zardari had encouraged Egypt to step up investment in energy, logistics, construction, agriculture, mining and IT. Deputy PM Dar separately announced on the weekend that Pakistan and Egypt would establish a new business council, followed by a meeting of the Pakistan-Egypt Business Forum next year. A session of the Joint Ministerial Commission, dormant for 16 years, will also be revived to strengthen bilateral economic ties, Dar said.