Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will discuss on Wednesday with Egypt’s President Abdul Fattakh as-Sisi issues of fighting international terrorism.
The Egyptian leader is paying a working visit to Russia.
"Russia supports Egypt’s vigorous efforts in this direction and is ready to render all-round assistance to strengthening Egypt’s armed forces and law enforcement," the Kremlin press service said.
The Middle East settlement and the situation in Northern African, including Syria and Libya, will also be part of the agenda, the Kremlin press service stressed.
Egypt is one of Russia’s major Middle East partners. Trade and economic ties form an important aspect of Russian-Egyptian bilateral ties, the Kremlin press service said. The year 2014 saw an 86% increase in reciprocal trade since 2013 that reached 5.5 billion U.S. dollars. The reciprocal trade dwindled by 16% in monetary terms in the first half of 2015 due to falling prices in global product markets and foreign exchange rate fluctuations. However, the trade structure remained unchanged. At the same time, Egypt’s agricultural exports into Russia are showing stable growth. The quantum of trade over the designated period exceeded 500,000 tonnes.
"The Joint Russian-Egyptian Commission for Trade, Economic and Scientific-Technological Cooperation is a vital mechanism to promote the Russian-Egyptian interaction. Its next meeting is to take place late this year," the Kremlin press service said.
Energy, including the oil and gas sector, is one of the leading areas of cooperation. Russia’s oil company LUKOIL implements a number of projects near the Egyptian city of Hurghada where it extracts about 0.5 million tonnes of oil annually.
Russia’s Rosneft and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation agreed on annual deliveries to Egypt of petroleum products and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Rosneft will also train personnel for the Egyptian oil and gas industry.
Russia’s Gazprom and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company struck a deal to supply several LNG shipments to Egypt before 2019.
In a bid to create modern atomic energy in Egypt, the two countries signed an agreement for developing a project for the construction of nuclear power stations in Egypt during President Putin’s visit to Cairo in February last year. The sides are studying the project’s technical and financial parameters, the Kremlin press service said.
The two countries strengthen humanitarian contacts. Russia helps Egypt to train qualified experts for the Egyptian economy. Over years of cooperation, about 10,000 Egyptian experts in various field of knowledge have graduated first from Soviet and then Russian institutions of high learning. About 200 Egyptian nationals are studying in Russia now. The Egyptian-Russian University founded in 2009 has 4,000 students. Russian and Egyptian scientific and educational establishments develop direct ties. An archaeological mission of the Russian Academy of Sciences functions in Egypt. The two countries develop cooperation in high technologies.
Tourism is another vital and dynamic area of reciprocal cooperation. A record number of Russian tourists - over 2.5 million people - visited Egyptian sea resorts in 2014. More than half a million Russians spent their vacation in Egypt in the first half of 2015.
Russia and Egypt develop a confidential political dialogue, including at the summit level. The Egyptian president visited Russia on August 12, 2014. He met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea town of Sochi. The Egyptian leader took part in the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) in Moscow on May 9.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Cairo on February 9-10 this year. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited Egypt on August 6 to attend the unveiling ceremony of the major extension of the Suez Canal. He also met President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
Other Russian officials who visited Egypt in 2015 include Nikolay Patrushev, the head of the Russian Security Council, a number of ministers and the heads of major Russian companies.
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