President Tran Dai Quang is welcomed at Luxor International Airport by local officials (Photo: VNA)Luxor (VNA) – President Tran Dai Quang and his spouse arrived inLuxor city on August 25 afternoon (local time), beginning his State visit toEgypt from August 25-29 at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
This is the first visit to Egypt by a head of the State of Vietnam since thetwo countries established diplomatic ties in 1963.
The visit is to reaffirm commitments that both sides signed in 2017, andpromote measures to boost bilateral cooperation in all aspects such aspolitics, economy-trade and investment, culture and education.
Egypt is one of the first Arab countries to have relations with Vietnam. From1958, Vietnam established a trade representative office in Egypt. Then, onSeptember 1, 1963, Vietnam and Egypt officially set up diplomatic ties. Thesame year, Vietnam opened its embassy in Cairo. One year later in 1964, Egyptopened its embassy in Hanoi.
Egypt was the first North African country to recognise Vietnam’s market economyin November 2013.
Egypt is the fifth largest trade partner of Vietnam in Africa. Bilateral tradebetween the two countries reached 350 million USD in 2017. Vietnam’s mainexports to the country included seafood, auto spare parts, fabrics, blackpepper, coffee, rubber, and consumer goods.
Each year, Egypt provides 12 Arab language training scholarships for Vietnamesestudents. On the occasion of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s visit to Vietnamin September 2017, Egypt pledged to provide technical assistance and trainingfor 10-20 officials on Halal standards for goods exported to the Muslim market.
The two countries have coordinated and provided mutual support at internationalforums, as well as shared views on issues of mutual concern at the UnitedNations.-VNA
VNA
