CAIRO — Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek el-Mulla said in a July 25 statement following the meeting of the founding members of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) in Cairo that the members have agreed to complete the structure of the group.

The EMGF meeting, which comes almost six months after the forum was declared, was attended by energy ministers from the founding countries of the forum, namely Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy and Palestine, as well as the representative of the Jordanian minister of energy. The US energy secretary was invited by the EMGF countries as a guest of honor, and the European Union director general of energy, a representative of France and a representative of the World Bank were also in attendance.

The participating ministers agreed to hold the next ministerial meeting during the second half of January 2020 in Cairo.

The EMGF — which is established by Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Italy, Greece and Cyprus — aims to promote regional cooperation in the field of energy in accordance with international law in order to exploit the resources of the region and allow for a sustainable regional gas market.