Cyprus will be the first country after Egypt to take over the chairmanship of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) on January 1, 2022. Specifically, Egypt will continue to chair the Forum until the end of the year, when Cyprus, in January 2022, will assume its first official presidency.
This was decided during today's fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Forum, held in Cairo, with the participation of the Minister of Energy Natasa Peleidou and the Ministers of Egypt of Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan and Palestine and Italy. The Forum officially became a regional intergovernmental organization after the entry into force of its Statute on March 1, 2021
The Forum Members also decided, inter alia, to include France as a member and the United States as an observer.
All the Ministers recognized in the Joint Declaration, which they adopted, the important milestone, but also all the important steps and successive achievements that took place from the launch of the idea of the Forum in January 2019 until its official launch.
The Joint Declaration reaffirms the Forum 's desire to be a platform for structured dialogue on natural gas, with the aim of creating a sustainable gas market in the Eastern Mediterranean. In this context, it is noted, the Forum will contribute to the utilization of the potential of the region in gas reserves, aiming at sustainable and environmentally friendly development, as well as with full respect for the rights of its members on their natural resources, in accordance with international law.
At the same time, it was decided that Egypt will continue to chair the Forum until the end of the year, when Cyprus, in January 2022, will assume its first official presidency.
According to the Declaration, the Ministerial Meeting also discussed the creation of a Long-Term Strategy for the EMGF, as well as the initiatives taken for policy formulation, by technical groups of the member countries, on the issues of “Gas Decarbonisation” and “Gas Decarbonisation”. Use of Liquefied Natural Gas in Shipping “(LNG as a fuel for vessels).
In addition, the seven Energy Ministers were briefed on the progress of the study prepared by the Advisory Committee on Gas Industry regarding the “Supply and Demand of Natural Gas in the Eastern Mediterranean”, while they also considered the possibility of setting up a corresponding Advisory Committee.
The Ministerial Meeting ended with the adoption of the Roadmap of the EMGF for 2021 and the decision to convene the next meeting in Cairo, within the last quarter of 2021.
Philenews / ΚΥΠΕ
