Vietnam,Egypt hold high-level talks

At their talks following an official welcome ceremony for President Tran Dai Quang, the two leaders updated each other on the current situation in their respective country, noting with joy the flourishing bilateral ties as demonstrated by the success of the first meeting of the Sub-Committee on Trade and Industry Cooperation in Egypt in April 2018 to actualize the outcome of the Inter-Governmental Committee’s fifth meeting in August 2017.

Through the mechanisms, Vietnam and Egypt agreed upon specific measures to augment their cooperation in multiple fields. Notably, in the first half of 2018, two-way trade hit US$230 million, a rise of 44.5% year by year.

President Quang extolled the achievements Egypt has recorded over the past few years under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, thus enabling Egypt to emerge as one of the leading economies in Africa with a GDP of nearly US$1.2 trillion and growth of more than 5%.

The Vietnamese State leader congratulated President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi on his re-election as president while believing that Egypt will move forward to reap even greater attainments and ensure socio-economic stability and economic growth for a more prosperous nation.

Vietnam and Egypt should maintain regular meetings between senior leaders, intensify delegation exchanges among ministries, sectors, and localities, and step up cooperation at multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the UN, South-South Cooperation, Non-Aligned Movement, and the Francophone, Quang said.

He proposed that Egypt, as a member of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, serve as a bridge for ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, to gain access to the African Union and its members.

Quang asked Egypt to remove trade barriers, offer optimal conditions for Vietnamese goods to enter its market, such as farm produce, aquatic products, and construction materials, and finalize legal procedures to adopt the Double-Taxation Avoidance Agreement signed with Vietnam in March 2006.

He also praised the Arabian nation for sending its puppetry artists to the country for performance in November this year as part of activities celebrating the 55th founding anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Quang underlined the need for the two countries to maintain the effective implementation of their cultural cooperation programme for the 2017-2021 period and tourism cooperation for 2017-2019.

He thanked Egypt for coordinating with and creating the best conditions for the Vietnamese Embassy to launch television programmes and seminars in honour of late President Ho Chi Minh, who visited Egypt three times.

President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, in turn, said that with its position connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe, Egypt is willing to help Vietnamese goods access the Egyptian market, including the forthcoming launch of the Halal trade standard programme and supporting Vietnamese officials in learning Halal standards for their exports to Muslim markets, including Egypt.

He said his nation will bolster bilateral collaboration in recognizing each other’s flora and fauna quarantine measures for farm produce and seafood.

Both leaders consented to strengthen delegation exchanges and experience sharing in security, defence, economy, trade, investment, culture, sports, tourism, agriculture, transportation, and locality-to-locality cooperation, with a major focus on promoting economic partnerships towards the US$1 billion bilateral trade target in the next five years.

They also welcomed the signing of a cooperation deal between Ninh Binh province of Vietnam and Luxor city of Egypt, laying a foundation for other localities to boost their partnerships.

Vietnam and Egypt will maintain scholarship programmes for Vietnamese students wishing to study the Arabic language in Egypt. They said they will direct ministries, sectors, and localities of both sides to effectively carry out signed agreements in the field.

The leaders compared notes on regional and international issue of shared concern and concurred to increase closer coordination at multilateral forums and in global matters such as anti-terrorism and sustainable use of water resources.

After their talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of a number of important cooperation deals between ministries, sectors, localities, and enterprises, including a memorandum of understanding between Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and another between the two trade and industry ministries.

After the signing ceremony, President Tran Dai Quang and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al Sisi co-hosted a press conference to inform about the outcome of their talks.