Vietnam and Egypt hold political consultation in Cairo

During the meetings, both sides conducted a comprehensive review of the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Egypt reflected in the outcomes of recent high-level visits and interactions between their leaders. They shared that the two countries have seen positive progress in economic cooperation, particularly in trade and investment, with increasing interest from Vietnamese businesses in the Egyptian market.

Meeting with Hang, Abdelatty emphasized Egypt’s commitment to strengthening ties with Vietnam, particularly in economics, trade, and investment, by promoting intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms, partnerships between governments and businesses, and cooperation among enterprises from both countries.

He described the Vietnam-Egypt friendship as special that should be further deepened and elevated to new heights. Acknowledging Vietnam’s remarkable development experience and achievements, he expressed a desire to develop ‘limitless’ relations with Vietnam across all fields.

Highlighting the importance of investment cooperation, he encouraged Vietnamese businesses to expand their engagement, seek investment opportunities, and effectively utilize Egypt’s market of 115 million consumers.

He also emphasized Egypt’s potential as a gateway for Vietnamese businesses to access larger markets such as Europe, Africa, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

Meanwhile, Assistant Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheen expressed Egypt’s strong expectations for expanding trade and investment cooperation with Vietnam. He highlighted Egypt’s desire for Vietnamese businesses to transfer technology and technical expertise while fostering cooperation to take advantage of Egypt’s investment incentives and opportunities. He also underscored the importance of opening markets for key products of each country.

Hang for her part noted that over the past 60 years of diplomacy, Vietnam-Egypt cooperation has yielded significant progress, making Egypt one of Vietnam’s leading partners in Africa. Based on their strong political relationship and high-level interactions, the Deputy Minister proposed that both sides intensify comprehensive cooperation across all fields, strengthen political trust, increase reciprocal high-level visits, and elevate bilateral relations to new heights.

She called for increased exchanges and joint efforts to create breakthroughs in areas such as economy, trade, investment, tourism, and emerging sectors like Halal, renewable energy, food security, construction, and fisheries.

Highlighting the similarities in economic scale and demography, as well as the untapped potential for economic cooperation, Hang urged the two countries to facilitate the expansion of business and investment activities in each other’s markets. She encouraged the organization of more connection events for the business communities to exchange information on cooperation and investment opportunities.

The Deputy Foreign Minister also proposed focusing on market access for complementary export products, developing agreements and frameworks such as exploring the possibility of negotiating a free trade agreement, creating a legal foundation for elevating bilateral cooperation to new heights.

Both sides agreed to expedite the organization of the 6th Vietnam – Egypt Joint Committee meeting and the 3rd Subcommittee on Industry and Trade Cooperation meeting. They also agreed to promote negotiations on agreements such as the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, updates to the Agreement on Investment Promotion and Protection, and memoranda of understanding on cooperation between the two chambers of commerce and industry.

On international and regional issues, both sides expressed deep concern over the Middle East conflict, and called for an immediate ceasefire to ensure uninterrupted humanitarian aid to Gaza and other affected areas. They emphasized the two-state solution, with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, as the foundation for a just and lasting resolution to the conflict in Gaza and the Middle East.

Regarding the East Sea issue, Deputy Minister Hang urged Egypt to support ASEAN’s stance on resolving maritime disputes through peaceful means, respecting international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Both sides reaffirmed the importance of multilateralism, respect for international law, and their commitment to maintaining the tradition of friendly cooperation and mutual support at regional and international forums. They vowed to work together for peace, cooperation, and development in their regions and worldwide.