Vietnam treasures relations with Egypt: Party official hinh anh 1Politburo member Pham Minh Chinh (L) speaks at a meeting with the Vietnamese embassy in Egypt (Photo: VNA)
 
Cairo (VNA) – Politburo member and Chairman of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee’s Organisation Commission Pham Minh Chinh has affirmed that the Party, State and people of Vietnam always attach importance to friendly and cooperative relations with Egypt.

Chinh, who has been on a working visit to Egypt from December 8-12, made the statement during his meetings with Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament Ali Abdel-Aal, Egyptian Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Sharawy, General Secretary of the Egyptian Communist Party Salah Adly Abdelhafiz, General Secretary of the Egyptian Socialist Party Ahmed Bahaa El Shafey, and Chairman of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party Mamdouh Habashi.

The two sides discussed policies and experience in national development, and specific measures to foster ties between the two States and legislatures, and between the CPV and Egyptian political parties.

Chinh thanked Egypt in its capacity as Chair of the African Union (AU) for supporting Vietnam’s bid for a non-permanent seat of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020 – 2021 tenure.

He suggested that the two sides should continue facilitating all-level visits, offer mutual support at regional and global forums for the sake of peace, cooperation and development.

Chinh, who is also Secretary of the CPV Central Committee, proposed that Egypt continues supporting Vietnam in establishing official ties with the AU, as well as explore the possibility of opening a direct route between the two nations.

The official held that the two countries should continue facilitating economic, trade, investment ties, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, and friendship between localities, firstly between Hanoi and Cairo.

Vietnam and Egypt should remove trade barriers to lift two-way trade to 1 billion USD in the coming years, enhance the sharing of experience to deal with challenges in ensuring security of water resource on Nile river.

Chinh asked Egypt to back Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issues, the settlement of disputes via peaceful means in line with international law, the United Nations Charter and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ensuring security and safety of navigation and aviation in the region as well as interests of countries that have trade ties with Asia-Pacific countries, including Egypt.

The Egyptian leaders hailed the significance of the ongoing visit and Vietnam’s stature in the region and the world.

They expressed readiness to learn from Vietnam’s experience in developing the market economy and lauded Vietnam’s stance on issues of the Arab world, especially the Middle East peace process.

They suggested the two countries effectively realise signed agreements, promote bilateral ties in diverse areas, and improve the operation efficiency of the Vietnam-Egypt Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group.

The Egyptian leaders hoped that Vietnam, in its capacity as the Chair of ASEAN in 2020, will step up collaboration between Egypt and ASEAN member states within the framework of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.

They suggested establishing a business council to boost bilateral trade, and wished to reinforce bilateral coordination in the spheres of national defence-security, anti-terrorism, and climate change response, and establish a joint university.

On the East Sea issues, the Egyptian side affirmed their support for the settlement of disputes through peaceful means in line with international law, the UN Charter and the 1982 UNCLOS, ensuring security and safety of navigation and aviation in the region.

During the visit, Chinh also met with the Vietnamese Embassy’s staff and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Egypt./.
VNA