The visit coincides with the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries (September 1, 1963).
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State President Tran Dai Quang. (Photo: VNA) |
Egypt, an influential country in Africa, is at a place connecting the two continents of Asia and Africa. With President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s Look East policy, the country paid much attention to expand its relationships with Asian nations, including Vietnam.
Egypt is one of the African countries that has attracted the most Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Though many changes were made in the country’s political system, economic reforms and foreign financial assistance helped the country’s economy grow stably.
The traditional friendship between Vietnam and Egypt has seen remarkable developments over the past time. Egypt was among the Arab nations to early establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Vietnam has had a trade office in the North African country since 1958.
The two countries also regularly supported each other at international forums and shared the same view on various matters of mutual concern. In September 2016, Egypt officially joined the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, a peace treaty established by the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The bilateral economic cooperation still has much potential for development. Particularly, Egypt is the fifth-largest trade partner of Vietnam in Africa. Two-way trade reached about USD 350 million last year. Vietnam mainly exported aquatic products, automobile spare parts, fabric, black pepper, coffee, rubber, and consumer goods to Egypt. Meanwhile, Egypt is the first North African nation to recognize Vietnam’s market economy status in November 2013. It has three ongoing registered investment projects, worth USD 2.05 million in total, in Vietnam.
The two countries signed various agreements on trade, economic-technical cooperation, investment, diplomacy, oil and gas, and so on. They also accelerated information exchange and cooperation between the two ruling Parties and their localities. Every year, Egypt grants 12 scholarships on Arab language training to Vietnamese students. These cooperation fields strenthen the traditional friendship between the two nations.
The Egypt visit of State President Tran Dai Quang and his spouse is expected to contribute to realizing the Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralization of its relations, and international integration, particularly to enhancing relationships with African countries in general and Egypt in particular.
The visit is also a -chance for both sides’ leadership to discuss measures to enhance cooperation on economics, trade and investment more effectively.
The Vietnamese people hope the President’s visit to Egypt will be a success, contributing to deepening the traditional friendship for prosperity of both countries.
Written by PAN
Translated by Trung Thanh