Cairo (VNA) – State President Luong Cuong met with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on the afternoon of August 5 (local time), within the framework of his State visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Expressing his pleasure to meet with President Luong Cuong, PM Mostafa Madbouly affirmed that the visit is an important milestone, opening a new beginning in the good bilateral relationship between the two countries.
He showed his love for the country and people of Vietnam and congratulated the Southeast Asian nation on its outstanding development achievements, expressing his belief that Vietnam will realise the goal of becoming a high-income, developed country by 2045.
He was pleased to learn that the two countries had agreed to upgrade their relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership, affirming that the Egypt-Vietnam relationship is a special historical one, established early and promoted by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Prime Minister himself and all senior Egyptian leaders.
Sincerely thanking the Egyptian leaders and people for their warm and respectful welcome to the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation, President Cuong expressed his impression of Egypt's rapid development, especially in the construction and development of new urban areas and administrative centres, demonstrating the country’s vision and aspiration to break through and rise up.
He affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to developing the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Egypt and hopes to bring the bilateral cooperation to a new level - more solid, substantive and effective.
Appreciating the opportunities for cooperation with Egypt and Africa, President Luong Cuong suggested that the two sides increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, build new legal frameworks, and facilitate bilateral cooperation in all fields.
Agreeing to promote economic cooperation in a sustainable and mutually beneficial direction, the President proposed to facilitate businesses of both sides to invest and cooperate in areas of strength such as logistics, energy infrastructure construction, industrial production, textiles, renewable energy as well as in new and potential areas like green transition, digital transformation, and Halal industry.
The two sides need to promote coordination, consultation and mutual support at international and regional forums, and increase the exchange of experience in the fields of peacekeeping and mediation to actively contribute to peace and stability in each region and the world at large, he noted.
The President also asked the Egyptian Prime Minister to pay attention to and create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country to do business and live stably, thereby contributing to the development of Egypt and the relationship between the two countries.
Impressed by Vietnam's strategic goals, Prime Minister Madbouly said that Egypt is also reforming and restructuring the private sector, attracting foreign investment, promoting the industrial revolution, information technology and green transition, and minimising the impact of climate change.
Emphasising similarities between Vietnam and Egypt, the host said he hopes that the two sides will strengthen cooperation and effectively tap the potential in bilateral relations, aiming to initiate negotiations on the Vietnam - Egypt Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the basis of equality, balance, mutual benefit. They should also make efforts to increase trade turnover as President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and President Luong Cuong agreed during their talks.
The PM also proposed the establishment of the Vietnam - Arab Business Council, which will serve as a bridge connecting Vietnam with markets in the Middle East - Africa region and Arab countries.
He said he is pleased to welcome Vietnamese investors, affirming that he would create favourable conditions for them to do business in his country. Egypt is ready to welcome Vietnamese students to study at the Al-Azhar University and other schools here, he added.
The Egyptian PM highly appreciated Vietnam's role in the United Nations, and said that he would send a delegation to attend the signing ceremony of the UN Convention against Cybercrime in Hanoi in October.
On this occasion, President Luong Cuong conveyed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's respectful invitation to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to visit Vietnam soon. The Egyptian leader accepted the invitation with pleasure./.
