President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak and his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov held talks in Cairo to discuss issues of development of bilateral relations, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Central Asia.

The Uzbek leader also held meetings with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amr Musa.

Within the framework of a three-day official visit of Islam Karimov to Egypt, which began on Wednesday, a meeting of the Egyptian-Uzbek Business Council with the participation of businessmen was held.

The sides signed agreements on cooperation between a number of Egyptian and Uzbek banks, as well as the two countries’ Chambers of Industry and Commerce.

Besides, the sides signed bilateral agreements on cooperation in the sphere of science and culture, education, mass media and tourism.

On Thursday, the Uzbek president will meet with Chairman of the People’ s Assembly of Egypt Fathi Surur and take part in the opening in Cairo of a monument to Uzbek medieval mathematician and astronomer Ahmed al-Fergani.