Cairo (VNA)– President Tran Dai Quang held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah AlSisi on August 27 as part of his ongoing five-day State visit to the Arabiancountry.

The Egyptian Presidentlauded his Vietnamese counterpart’s visit, affirming that it will help promote thebilateral traditional friendship and all-round cooperation.

Both leaders briefedeach other on the current situation in each country, showing their pleasure atthe recent progress of bilateral relations with the success of the firstmeeting of the Sub-Committee on Trade and Industry Cooperation in Egypt inApril 2018 to realise the outcomes of the Inter-Governmental Committee’s fifthmeeting in August 2017.

Through the mechanisms,Vietnam and Egypt agreed on specific measures to strengthen their cooperationin various fields, they said, noting that in the first half of 2018, two-waytrade reached 230 million USD, a surge of 44.5 percent year-on-year.

President Tran DaiQuang expressed his delight at the attainments that Egypt has gained over thepast few years under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, positioningEgypt as one of the leading economies in Africa with a GDP of nearly 1.2 trillionUSD and growth of over 5 percent.

He congratulatedPresident Abdel Fattah Al Sisi for being re-elected as president, saying thathe believes Egypt will go on to gain greater achievements, and maintainsocio-economic stability and economic growth for a more prosperous country.

He proposed thatVietnam and Egypt maintain regular meetings between senior leaders; encourage delegationexchanges among ministries, sectors, and localities; and promoting cooperationat multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the UN, South-SouthCooperation, Non-Aligned Movement, and the Francophone.

The Vietnamese leader suggestedthat Egypt, as a member of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in SoutheastAsia, act as a bridge for ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, to get closer tothe African Union and its members.

Egypt should removetrade barriers and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese goods to accessits market, especially in terms of farm produce, aquatic products, andconstruction materials, while finalising legal procedures to approve theDouble-Taxation Avoidance Agreement signed with Vietnam in March 2006, heasked.

The VietnamesePresident welcomes Egypt to send its puppetry artists to the country to performin November this year within activities to celebrate the 55th foundinganniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

The two countriesshould maintain the effective implementation of their cultural cooperationprogramme in the 2017-2021 period and the tourism affiliation programmethroughout the 2017-2019 period.

He thanked Egypt forcoordinating with and creating optimal conditions for the Vietnamese Embassy tolaunch television programmes and seminars to honour late President Ho Chi Minh,who visited Egypt three times.

For his part,President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said that with its position connecting Asia,Africa, and Europe, Egypt is willing to help Vietnamese goods access theEgyptian market, including the upcoming launch of the Halal trade standardprogramme and supporting Vietnamese officials in learning Halal standards forgoods exported to Muslim markets, including Egypt.

Egypt will strengthenbilateral collaboration in recognising each other’s flora and fauna quarantinemeasures for farm produce and seafood.

The two leaders also concurredto increase delegation exchanges and experience sharing in security, defence,economy, trade, investment, culture, sports, tourism, agriculture,transportation, and locality-to-locality cooperation, with particular focus onpromoting economic partnerships for the target of 1 billion USD in bilateraltrade in the next five years.

The two sides welcomedthe signing of a cooperation deal between Ninh Binh province of Vietnam and Luxorcity of Egypt, laying the foundation for other localities to set up partnerships.

Vietnam and Egypt willmaintain scholarship programmes for Vietnamese students to study the Arabiclanguage in Egypt, they agreed, assigning ministries, sectors, and localitiesof both sides to effectively realise the signed agreements in the field.

Both leaders agreed tomaintain close affiliation at multilateral forums and in global matters such asanti-terrorism and sustainable use of water resources.

At the talks, the twoPresidents witnessed the signing of a number of important cooperation dealsbetween ministries, sectors, localities, and enterprises, including amemorandum of understanding between Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Tradeand Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and another between thetwo trade and industry ministries.

After the signingceremony, President Tran Dai Quang and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah AlSisi met the media.

Later the same day,the Egyptian President hosted a banquet for his Vietnamese guest.–VNA