Brussels, 24 and 25 April 2017: Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy held bilateral talks with top European Union officials on Monday and Tuesday in meetings she described as "fruitful."

In their discussions, AU Commissioner Abou-Zeid and European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip shared the view that ICT is an essential resource for economic growth, competitiveness, innovation, job creation and societal progress in general and called for more close and regular exchanges and mutual learning to foster the development of ICT.

Improving urban life through more sustainable integrated solutions in transport and ICT sectors, operationalisation of the Single African Air Transport Market, implementation of PIDA PAP, Universal Access to Energy, Regulatory Harmonisation and ICT in digital economy were at the heart of the exchange between AU Commissioner Abou-Zeid and EU Commissioner for Transport, Mrs. Violeta Bulc.

In particular, AU Commissioner Abou-Zeid highlighted the AU-EU partnership on the Air Transport sector through the consultancy services made available to the Department of Infrastructure and Energy. The two parties also discussed ways to broaden EU support to the AU to cover the various Transport sub-sectors, in particular Maritime and Rail.

Commissioner Abou-Zeid also met with EU Commissioner for International Cooperation & Development, Mr. Neven Mimica in the presence of Mr. Stefano Manservisi, Director-General of the Department for International Cooperation and Development (DEvCO). They discussed the overall Africa-EU cooperation including Energy For All as a key driver for inclusive and sustainable growth and the External Investment Plan, which will be discussed with the African Union Commission before its adoption by the EU. Also high on the agenda was cooperation on climate-resilient investments and ongoing preparation of this year's COP 23.

The AU and EU agreed to continue their full range of bilateral programmes and consultations, and to look for ways to further strengthen cooperation in the future.

For further information, please contact:

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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