HÀ NỘI – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s visit to Việt Nam is considered an important milestone in the cooperation between Việt Nam and Egypt, which is expected to boost the traditional partnership between the two countries in all fields. 
The visit on September 6-7 at the invitation of President Trần Đại Quang, will be the first made by a State leader of Egypt to Việt Nam since the two countries established diplomatic relations on September 1, 1963. 
Egypt was one of the first Arabian countries to establish relations with Việt Nam. Việt Nam opened a trade representative office in Egypt in 1958, and its embassy in Cairo in 1963. In 1964, Egypt inaugurated its embassy in Hà Nội. 
Over the past years, Egypt has highly valued Việt Nam’s stance on issues related to the Arabian world, especially the Middle East peace process. 
The Egyptian government has supported Việt Nam in the evacuations of workers from Libya in 2011 and 2014. The two sides have coordinated closely and supported each other at international forums, while sharing viewpoints on various issues at the United Nations. 
At the eighth political consultations at Deputy Foreign Ministerial level in Cairo in May 2015, Egypt committed to giving technical assistance to Việt Nam so the country could be able to issue Halal certificates on food for Islamic markets. 
Egypt is the second largest trade partner of Việt Nam in Africa, with two-way trade hitting US$316 million in 2016. Việt Nam exported seafood, automobile spare parts, fabric, black peppercorn, coffee, rubber and other consumer goods to Egypt and imported mainly chemicals, oil products, milk and dairy products, and fibres. 
Egypt was the first North African country to recognise Việt Nam’s full market economy in November 2013. The country is running two projects in Việt Nam’s Tây Ninh and Khánh Hòa provinces with combined capital of $750,000. 
The Egyptian Government offers 12 scholarships in Arabian to Việt Nam each year. The two sides have regularly exchanged information on inspections and culture and established the Việt Nam-Egypt Friendship Parliamentarian Group. 
It is hoped that the visit of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will help bilateral cooperation grow more effectively and extensively, while creating cooperation opportunities in trade, agriculture, culture and tourism. The two sides will also discuss regional and international issues of shared concern. — VNS