CAIRO — President Trần Đại Quang had talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi yesterday as part of his ongoing five-day visit to the Arabian country. 

The Egyptian President lauded his Vietnamese counterpart’s visit, affirming it will help promote bilateral friendship and co-operation. 

Both leaders briefed each other on the current situation in each country, expressing pleasure at recent progress in bilateral relations with the success of the first meeting of the Sub-Committee on Trade and Industry Co-operation in Egypt in April 2018 to realise the outcomes of the Inter-Governmental Committee’s fifth meeting in August 2017. 

Through the mechanisms, Việt Nam and Egypt agreed on measures to strengthen their co-operation in various fields, they said, noting that in the first half of 2018, two-way trade reached US$230 million, a surge of 44.5 per cent year-on-year. 

President Quang expressed his delight at the attainments that Egypt has gained over the past few years under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, positioning Egypt as one of the leading economies in Africa with a GDP of nearly $1.2 trillion. 

He congratulated President El Sisi for being re-elected in April, saying that he believed Egypt would go on to gain greater achievements, and maintain socio-economic stability and economic growth. 

He proposed Việt Nam and Egypt maintain regular meetings between senior leaders; encourage delegation exchanges among ministries, sectors, and localities; and promote co-operation at multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the UN, South-South Co-operation and the Non-Aligned Movement. 

The Vietnamese leader suggested that Egypt, as a member of the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia, act as a bridge for ASEAN countries, including Việt Nam, to get closer to the African Union and its members. 

Egypt should remove trade barriers and help Vietnamese goods access its market, especially in terms of farm produce, aquatic products and construction materials, while finalising legal procedures to approve the Double-Taxation Avoidance Agreement signed with Việt Nam in March 2006, he asked. 

The Vietnamese President welcomed Egypt to send its puppetry artists to the country to perform in November this year to celebrate the 55th founding anniversary of bilateral ties. 

The two countries should maintain the effective implementation of their cultural co-operation programme in 2017-21 and the tourism affiliation programme throughout 2017-19. 

He thanked Egypt for creating optimal conditions for the Vietnamese Embassy to launch television programmes and seminars to honour late President Hồ Chí Minh, who visited Egypt three times. 

For his part, President Sisi said that with its position connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe, Egypt was willing to help Vietnamese goods access the Egyptian market, including the upcoming launch of the Halal trade standard programme and supporting Vietnamese officials in learning Halal standards for goods exported to Muslim markets. 

Egypt will strengthen bilateral collaboration in recognising each other’s flora and fauna quarantine measures for farm produce and seafood. 

The two leaders also decided to increase delegation exchanges and experience sharing in security, defence, economy, trade, investment, culture, sports, tourism, agriculture, transportation and locality-to-locality co-operation, with a focus on promoting economic partnerships for the target of $1 billion in bilateral trade in the next five years. 

The two sides welcomed the signing of a co-operation deal between Ninh Bình Province of Việt Nam and Luxor city of Egypt, laying the foundation for other localities to set up partnerships. 

Việt Nam and Egypt will maintain scholarship programmes for Vietnamese students to study the Arabic language in Egypt, they agreed, assigning ministries, sectors and localities of both sides to effectively realise signed agreements in the field. 

Both leaders agreed to maintain close affiliation at multilateral forums and in global matters such as anti-terrorism and sustainable use of water resources. 

At the talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of a number of co-operation deals between ministries, sectors, localities and enterprises, including a memorandum of understanding between Việt Nam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and another between the two trade and industry ministries. — VNS