By: Maydaa Abo El-Nadar
Cairo, Jan.18 (SEE) - Egyptians Prime Minister and Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar received on Friday the Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Euroasian Economic Union (EEU)’s Minister in charge of Trade Veronika Nikishina.
Worth noting is that Egyptian-Armenian historical relations are very strong, bearing in mind that the Armenian community in Egypt has been playing an important role in strengthening cultural communication between both countries. The community has been effectively contributing in the political, cultural, and economic fields in Egypt.
Commercial exchange between both countries is currently estimated to reach 200 million USD. So during the meeting, Madbouly expressed Egypt’s desire to increase this exchange, also to open new fields of collaboration and to strengthen the existing, according to each country’s capabilities. He highlighted the importance of enhancing the Egyptian-Armenian Business Council’s role.
"Signing a free-trade agreement with the EEU will increase trade volume between Egypt and the EEU’s countries, and will reinforce economic bilateral cooperation between Egypt and the EEU’s members," Egypt's PM lamented. "In this regards, Egypt keens on speeding up implementing a free-trade agreement with the EEU,"
Madbouly added that the outcomes of the negotiations’ first round were very positive.
On the other hand, The Armenian Deputy PM responded saying, “In the current year, Armenia will preside over the EEU. So it will utilize its presidency’s period to support the signing of this agreement.”
Boosting tourism was on the agenda. In this regard, Madbouly urged Armenian diplomat to utilize direct flights between the Armenian capital of Yerevan and Egyptian's touristic spots such as Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. Both countries enjoy prestigious historical and monumental treasure, so Egypt aspires to enhance tourism with Armenia, and increase the number of Armenian tourist delegations to Egypt and vice versa.
On his side, Grigoryan expressed his appreciation to the distinguished historical and political bilateral ties. He added that “Egypt has a great investment potential and a promising market. On the other side, Armenia has a free-trade agreement with the EU, Canada, and the US. In this regard, I consider the visit a beginning to increase trade volume, and enhance the existing ties between both countries in different fields."
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