President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi held talks with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, at the Zuğulba Presidential Palace in Baku, on the second day of his official visit to Azerbaijan. An official reception ceremony was held for President El-Sisi.
President Aliyev extended his gratitude to the President for this kind gesture and welcomed him as a dear guest in Azerbaijan. He expressed his country’s appreciation of Egypt’s leadership and people, commending the close relations between Egypt and Azerbaijan. President Aliyev affirmed his country’s interest to further strengthen bilateral relations and step-up cooperation and coordination between the two countries at all levels, given Egypt’s role as a cornerstone for stability, security, and peace in the Middle East and Africa.
President El-Sisi conveyed his sincere appreciation to President Aliyev for his invitation to visit Azerbaijan and for the warm reception and hospitality, lauding the firm and longstanding relations between Egypt and Azerbaijan. This was particularly evident during the current visit by President El-Sisi, who is the first Egyptian President to visit Baku. This visit demonstrated a sincere desire and will to foster closer bilateral relations, explore cooperation in various areas and promote political cooperation and consultation between the two countries.
The meeting discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations at various levels. President Aliyev lauded the path of economic reforms in Egypt, which was conducive to the remarkable and continuous improvement in the indicators of the Egyptian economy. The two sides stressed the importance of building on the profound, friendly, and historical relations between Egypt and Azerbaijan, at both the official and popular levels, to enhance cooperation in areas of common interest, so as to achieve significant progress in bilateral cooperation and political dialogue. This aims at realizing the mutual interests of the two sides and at building on the rapprochement between the two countries over the past years.
The two Presidents stressed the importance of promoting trade and strengthening the economic partnerships between the two countries’ private sectors through the formation of a joint business council. They also discussed boosting cooperation between the two sides in a number of sectors, given the two countries’ enormous potential and the numerous opportunities open for cooperation, particularly in new and renewable energy and natural gas. This shall come in light of Egypt’s endeavor to become a regional energy hub. They also agreed on the need to step up cooperation in other areas such as construction, infrastructure, transport, pharmaceutical industries, tourism, and culture.
