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Satellite for Environment Monitoring.
CAIRO, Feb. 19, Egypt and Italy will sign an agreement in Rome this week to build and launch an environmental satellite. The Italian Space Agency and Egypt's National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences will launch 'DesertSat' to monitor coastal erosion, desertification, and agricultural and water resources, the Italian embassy said. According to a statement - which did not say when the satellite would be launched or give details of its cost - the signing would form part of a current visit to Rome by the President of Egypt, Mr. Hosni Mubarak. He will also give a speech to a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) conference in Rome.
Italy was Egypt's second largest commercial partner in the first nine months of 2000, with total trade valued at about $710 million, the Italian ambassador to Cairo, Mr. Mario Sica, said. He said that over that period, Italy was the number one foreign market for Egyptian goods, absorbing 13.8 per cent of its exports, including oil, oil products, Aluminium and Cotton.
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