Opinions & Interviews

Egypt reiterates willingness to bolster ties with Belarus in all areas

MINSK, 18 June (BelTA) – Egypt is ready to expand cooperation with Belarus in all areas and to continue implementing joint projects, Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said during the talks with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk on 18 June, BelTA has learned.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi drew attention to the special nature of relations between the two countries that received an additional boost during the visit of the Belarusian leader to Egypt in 2017. “I want to reiterate that we are very keen to continue developing bilateral relations between our countries in all areas, in all avenues. We are willing to implement all projects that we talked about during your visit and during the current visit,” the Egypt president said.

During the period between the highest-level visits the two states exchanged governmental, parliamentary and business visits. “I think this reflects our interest in bolstering ties with Belarus. We would like to develop our relations, expand areas of cooperation,” the Egypt president said. He expressed hope that the Business Cooperation Council would contribute greatly to the matter.

The Egypt leader thanked Belarus for the support of the Egyptian people during the presidential election in 2012 and for a clear position regarding the situation in Egypt. According to the president, since then the country has conducted a number of economic reforms which brought about certain progress, including a lower jobless rate, a reduced budget deficit and the GDP growth. “We have made great headway in developing the appropriate legislation to secure an opportunity for investors to work in our country,” Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said.

After the talks, the Egypt president noted the constructive nature of the meetings. “We had very extensive discussions, during which we talked about the ways of strengthening bilateral relations in all areas. We held an exchange of views on current issues of mutual interest. We reaffirmed our common willingness to strengthen and expand cooperation," he said.

The talks touched upon the prospects for economic cooperation, ways to boost the trade which, in the opinion of the parties, does not correspond to the nature and the level of political engagement.

“We agreed on the completion of the procedure to set up a Belarusian-Egyptian Business Council which will be expanding economic ties and mutual investment in many sectors. We discussed the cooperation in energy and natural gas, particularly in view of Egypt's role as a regional center in the energy sector and strategically advantageous geographical position of Belarus as a transit country for oil to Europe,” the Egypt president noted.

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