Cairo (VNA) – Vietnamese State President Luong Cuong and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with the press to inform the outcomes of their talks on August 5 in Cairo as part of the former’s ongoing state visit to Egypt.

President El-Sisi warmly welcomed President Cuong and the high-level Vietnamese delegation. He emphasised that the visit, from August 3 to 6, is taking place at a very special time, as the two countries have enjoyed 60 years of cooperation and mutual support at all levels, which lays a solid foundation for the closeness and connection between the two states and peoples.

The host leader noted that he and President Cuong had held successful talks, during which they agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Partnership to better tap into each country’s potential, particularly in agriculture, industry, trade, and investment, for common development and benefits.

The two sides also reached consensus on specific measures to further strengthen political trust, boost economic cooperation, and foster the traditional friendship between the two nations.

Egypt is willing to serve as a bridge for Vietnam to access Middle Eastern and African markets through its extensive free trade agreement network, and in turn, hopes Vietnam will support Egypt’s access to Southeast Asian markets, President El-Sisi said.

The Egyptian President said both sides also stressed the importance of increasing delegation exchanges at all levels, enhancing coordination at multilateral forums, and promoting economic, trade, investment, and sectoral cooperation, particularly in infrastructure, textiles, agriculture, manufacturing, footwear, and electronic components.

The two leaders touched upon the need to effectively implement the agreements signed during this visit, including those on economic and local-level collaboration. They concurred to continue promoting people-to-people, culture, tourism, and education exchanges. The two sides also discussed international issues of mutual concern, emphasising the need to resolve conflicts and disagreements through dialogue and peaceful means, in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter. The Egyptian President welcomed Vietnam's stance on the just struggle of the Palestinian people and agreed that promoting the two-state solution is an important goal to achieve sustainable and lasting peace in the Middle East.

President El-Sisi wished the working trip of President Cuong and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation a great success and become an important milestone in the history of relations and cooperation between the two countries.

For his part, President Cuong expressed his sincere gratitude for the warm, respectful, and friendly welcome offered by President El-Sisi, other leaders, and the people of Egypt.

He described his talks with President El-Sisi as highly successful, with both sides engaging in comprehensive discussions and reaching strong consensus on major orientations and measures to further enhance bilateral political ties. Notably, both sides agreed to upgrade Vietnam–Egypt relations to a Comprehensive Partnership.

The Vietnamese leader emphasised that this elevation reflects the growing stature of the bilateral ties in the new era, with greater political trust at all levels and broader, more substantive cooperation in all areas, especially economy, culture, science and technology, and education and training. He underscored that economic cooperation serves as the foundation to further promote the bilateral relations in a deeper and more intensive and extensive manner.

Building on this foundation, both sides agreed to continue the good tradition of friendship, mutual support and assistance for shared development, for the prosperity of their people and for peace and stability in their respective regions and the world, he said.

The two leader pledged to maintain regular high-level visits and meetings through all channels, effectively implement existing cooperation mechanisms, and explore the establishment of specialised sub-committees in areas of mutual interest.

Recognising the vast untapped potential and economic complementarity between the two countries, President Cuong said the two leaders affirmed the determination to increase bilateral trade turnover to 1 billion USD in the near future. In this spirit, both sides pledged to facilitate and consider opening their markets for each other’s key agricultural products.

They also discussed the possibility of launching negotiations on a Vietnam – Egypt free trade agreement (FTA) to further enable the flow of goods between the two countries. In addition, both sides committed to enhancing investment cooperation and encouraging businesses to take part in projects in priority sectors such as industry, textiles and garments, renewable energy, and information technology.

President Cuong noted that the two sides reaffirmed their commitments to close coordination and sharing of positions on regional and international issues at multilateral forums such as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Vietnam, he said, highly values Egypt’s role as a mediator in the Gaza conflicts and reiterated the country’s consistent support for a two-state solution, with an independent and sovereign State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting peacefully alongside the State of Israel, in line with international law and relevant UN resolutions.

The two leaders also held in-depth discussions on expanding cooperation into emerging areas in accordance with each country’s strengths and development requirements, such as science and technology, innovation, Halal cooperation, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. On this occasion, Vietnam called on Egypt to continue ensuring security, safety, and favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community and businesses living, working, and operating in the African nation.

President Cuong welcomed the signing of various cooperation agreements during the visit, covering areas such as local development, national defence, peacekeeping, and economic development. He urged the ministries and agencies of both sides to actively implement the signed agreements and the directions set out by the two leaders, thereby further promoting the cooperative partnership for mutual development, contributing to advancing the Vietnam - Egypt Comprehensive Partnership./.