Following their official talks in Cairo on August 5, Vietnamese President Lương Cường and Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi witnessed the signing of an MoU on local development cooperation between Việt Nam’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Egypt’s Ministry of Local Development.- VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh

CAIRO — Việt Nam and Egypt on Tuesday upgraded bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Partnership, according to the agreement reached between the two heads of States.

Vietnamese President Lương Cường and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi held both a private meeting and official talks shortly after the formal welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Cairo.

The two leaders issued a joint statement upgrading bilateral relations between Việt Nam and Egypt to a Comprehensive Partnership.

During the talks, President El-Sisi, on behalf of the Egyptian people, warmly welcomed President Cường and his spouse, affirming that the President’s State visit marked an important milestone, ushering in a new chapter of cooperation between the two countries following over 60 years of diplomatic ties.

Expressing deep admiration for President Hồ Chí Minh and praising the heroic history and remarkable development achievements of Việt Nam under the leadership of the Communist Party of Việt Nam, President El-Sisi underlined Egypt’s sincere appreciation and desire to further strengthen the traditional friendship and steadfast brotherhood with Việt Nam.

President Cường expressed his pleasure at making his first State visit to Egypt, a nation of ancient and vibrant civilisation, and thanked President El-Sisi, Egyptian leaders and the people for their warm and respectful welcome.

He recalled the affection that President Hồ Chí Minh and the Vietnamese people had for Egypt, reaffirming Việt Nam’s appreciation for bilateral relationship built and nurtured over generations by President Hồ Chí Minh, President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the peoples and leaders of both countries since the early days of the national liberation struggle.

On this occasion, President Cường conveyed greetings from Party General Secretary Tô Lâm, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, and National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn to President El-Sisi, Egyptian leaders, and the people of Egypt.

The two leaders exchanged views on their respective countries’ socio-economic development and welcomed the positive progress in Việt Nam–Egypt relations. They affirmed their determination to create breakthroughs in bilateral cooperation across all sectors.

To match the scope of their relationship and meet the aspirations of both peoples, while contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in their regions and globally, they agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Partnership.

President Cường and President El-Sisi agreed that the two countries would continue to support and closely cooperate with each other and committed to deepening political trust and implementing breakthrough measures to bolster trade and investment cooperation.

The leaders also discussed opportunities to expand cooperation into new areas such as innovation, science and technology, green transition, and digital transformation. They agreed to continue improving the bilateral legal framework to lay the foundation for comprehensive cooperation.

To promote balanced and mutually beneficial trade, President Cường stated that Việt Nam agreed in principle to open its market to certain Egyptian goods of interest and asked Egypt to facilitate Vietnamese goods’ access to the Egyptian market. Relevant agencies from both countries would soon complete procedures in line with international practices to implement this policy.

President El-Sisi said that with its geographic location linking three continents and its extensive network of free trade agreements, Egypt stood ready to serve as a gateway for Vietnamese businesses and products to access the Middle East and Africa.

He also agreed to discuss establishing new bilateral trade cooperation frameworks to help increase trade volume in the near future.

They agreed to establish a Working Group to study the feasibility of negotiating a Việt Nam–Egypt Free Trade Agreement; to step up cooperation in education and people-to-people exchange; and to enhance tourism promotion, cultural exchange, and destination marketing.

President Cường thanked Egypt for granting Arabic language training scholarships to Vietnamese students and proposed expanding cooperation and student exchanges in emerging fields such as halal industries, agriculture and international relations.

He also suggested sharing experiences and supporting Việt Nam in preserving and promoting cultural values, museum management, and sustainable tourism development.

President Cường asked Egypt to continue supporting the Vietnamese community living, studying and working in the country, helping them integrate and contribute to Egypt’s development and bilateral relations.

Regarding regional and international issues of mutual concern, President Cường appreciated Egypt’s role as a mediator in seeking solutions to regional conflicts.

President El-Sisi welcomed Việt Nam’s position on the just cause of the Palestinian people and agreed that promoting the two-state solution is key to achieving long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East.

On the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue, the two leaders affirmed their support for resolving disputes by peaceful means, based on respect for international law, the UN Charter, and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to ensure peace, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the region.

Vietnamese President Lương Cường and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had official talks in Cairo, Egypt, on August 5. — VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh

They agreed to uphold international law and the UN Charter, and to strengthen coordination, consultation and mutual support at multilateral forums on regional and global issues, for the benefit of their peoples and for peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

President Cường extended a formal invitation to President El-Sisi to visit Việt Nam at an early date, which the Egyptian President gladly accepted.

Following the talks, President Cường and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi witnessed the signing of several important cooperation documents, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on economic cooperation between Việt Nam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Egypt’s Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation and another MoU on local development cooperation between Việt Nam’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Egypt’s Ministry of Local Development.

During President Cường’s State visit, the two countries’ defence ministries also signed a Letter of Intent on defence cooperation and an MoU between Việt Nam's Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Egypt’s Liaison Agency with International Organisations.

Leaders from ministries, sectors and enterprises of both countries also held working sessions and reached several other agreements in various fields such as finance, agricultural trade, and oil and gas exploration. — VNS