President Tran Dai Quang and his spouse left Cairo on August 28 afternoon (local time) and concluded his four-day State visit to Egypt.

President Tran Dai Quang (middle) and leaders of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce

Before leaving, the State leader had a meeting with a delegation from the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC), including its Chairman Ahmed Al Wakil, Secretary General and CEO Alaa Ezz, and President of Elsewedy Electric Ahmed El Sewedy. 

President Tran Dai Quang affirmed that Vietnam always highly values the traditional cooperation and friendship with Egypt, expressing his hope that his visit will help lift up the bilateral ties to a new height.

He spoke highly of the all-round partnership between the two countries over the past year, but he held that economic and trade affiliation has yet to match the potential of both sides.

The two countries should work harder to raise two-way trade to 1 billion USD by 2020, he said, stressing the role of businesses in enhancing economic-trade ties.

He affirmed that Vietnam is ready to create optimal conditions for Egyptian firms to connect with their Vietnamese peers and conduct market surveys, trade, investment and tourism promotion in Vietnam, while encouraging Vietnamese enterprises to seek opportunities in Egypt.

FEDCOC Chairman Ahmed Al Wakil said that the business community is interested in outcomes of President Tran Dai Quang’s visit. He held that in order to reach the target of 1 billion USD in two-way trade by 2020, it is necessary to enhance cooperation as well as the sharing of information and experience in agriculture, aquaculture, rice export, and information technology. 

Located in the position connecting Asia, Europe and Africa, Egypt and the local business community are willing to act as a bridge for Vietnamese goods to access markets in the three continents, he stated.

President Tran Dai Quang lauded the efforts of the FEDCOC leader in connecting the business communities of Egypt and Vietnam. He said he hopes the federation will soon implement outcomes reached by leaders of the two countries during his visit, while promoting cooperation between FEDCOC and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as localities and enterprises of both sides, contributing to developing economy, trade and tourism in both Vietnam and Egypt.

Egyptian media highlight Vietnamese President’s State visit

The Egyptian Mail posts an article about the visit on its front page 

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang’s State visit to Egypt has been in the spotlight of the Egyptian media over the past few days.

The Ahram online newspaper reported that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed his keenness to develop friendship relations between Egypt and Vietnam following a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang in Cairo.

Speaking at a press conference, El-Sisi said Quang's visit was of special importance as it was the first visit by a Vietnamese head of state to Egypt since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries 55 years ago.

President El-Sisi visited Vietnam in September 2017, which was also the first visit by an Egyptian president to the Southeast Asian nation since the diplomatic ties were set up in 1963.

Ahram quoted El-Sisi as saying that: "These historic visits, as well as meetings between both countries' officials on several occasions, resemble the regard by both countries in boosting ties between another."

El-Sisi said that the pair had held “fruitful” talks, discussing the means of boosting bilateral relations at all levels. The round of talks also involved talks on supporting political, economic, security, and military relations between both countries, and means of combating terrorism.

The leaders discussed opening the Vietnamese market for Egyptian exports, among discussions on revitalising touristic and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Several deals related to attracting trade, supporting agriculture, and cooperating in the field of fuel were also signed during the visit, according to the newspaper. 

Ahram also highlighted Egypt-Vietnam trade and investment relations in recent years. Vietnam imports chemicals, honey, petroleum products, dairy products and textiles from Egypt at a value of 8.7 million USD annually. Egypt imports 221.3 million USD worth of Vietnamese goods annually, including fish, seafood, textiles, clothing, mobile phones, equipment, spare parts, and vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Mail weekly posted an article about the State visit by the Vietnamese leader on its front page. It said the summit talks between the two presidents reflected the political will to promote the countries’ multifaceted relations. The article noted that Egypt and Vietnam are working to enhance economic and investment cooperation.

In statements to the Middle East News Agency (MENA), the Egyptian President’s Spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi said that the talks between El-Sisi and Quang reflected the huge positive development in bilateral relations in an unprecedented way in addition to the provision of a joint political will to boost these relations at all levels, especially in agriculture and industry.

VNA