Photo courtesy of the House of Representatives
MINSK, 27 May (BelTA) - Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Igor Sergeyenko met with Speaker of the House of Representatives of Egypt Hanafy Ali Gebaly in Cairo on 26 May as part of his official visit to Egypt, BelTA learned from the press service of the House of Representatives.
During the talks, the chairman of the House of Representatives thanked his Egyptian colleague for hospitality and the invitation to pay an official visit to Egypt, the birthplace of one of the world's oldest civilizations.
Igor Sergeyenko and Hanafy Ali Gebaly
Egypt has been a reliable partner of Belarus for more than 30 years of diplomatic relations, the speaker of the House of Representatives stressed. The two countries have intensified bilateral official contacts over the past year, he added.
The dialogue at the highest level makes the basis of political interaction. “We expect President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt to pay an official visit to Minsk in accordance with the current invitation. We also expect the prime minister of Egypt to pay a return visit to Belarus,” said the speaker.
According to Igor Sergeyenko, a new mechanism of interaction was developed following the summit talks in Minsk and Cairo in February 2020. It is a high-level commission on bilateral cooperation and political dialogue through ministers of foreign affairs. “We welcome the early launch of the aforesaid format of work between our ministries of foreign affairs,” he emphasized.
Interparliamentary cooperation is an integral part of the dialogue between the countries. “The heads of our states held meetings with the leadership of the parliaments during their official visits to Cairo and Minsk. The visit of your predecessor to Belarus in November 2018 was extremely important for the Belarusian-Egyptian interparliamentary cooperation,” Igor Sergeyenko said.
The National Assembly of Belarus is open to further cooperation with the Egyptian Parliament, said the Speaker of the House of Representatives. “Last year parliamentary elections were held in Belarus, and a new working group for cooperation with the Egyptian Parliament was formed. We hope for the creation of a similar parliamentary group on cooperation with Belarus,” he said.
Speaking about cooperation between Belarus and Egypt, Igor Sergeyenko emphasized that in the area of economic relations the two countries were striving not only for growth, but also for balanced trade through increasing purchases of critical imports from Egypt. He added that in order to ensure food security in Egypt, Belarus was ready to set up an assembly plant for tractors and trucks in Egypt. There are also prospects for cooperation in the production and trade of fodder for fish farms. Belarus will continue supplying quality dairy products to Egypt. “We suggest implementing the initiative of joint projects to develop recipes for dairy products from reconstituted milk,” the speaker emphasized.
He also noted the interest in partnership with Egypt in organizing joint productions in promising industries, including water treatment, and expressed readiness to share Belarusian technologies in this area. There is a basis for this as the specialists of the two countries held talks just last week.
It is also important to develop mechanisms to stimulate joint ventures, Igor Sergeyenko said. These, according to the chairman of the House of Representatives, could be annual state orders for jointly produced products or the provision of opportunities for preferential participation in tenders and government programs.
Cooperation in the humanitarian sector looks promising as well. One of the priority areas, as the speaker of the House of Representatives said, is the education of citizens of Egypt in Belarusian educational institutions. Igor Sergeyenko drew special attention to the fact that an important step in the development of cooperation in the humanitarian and educational sectors was the invitation of children from Egypt for vacation and recuperation in Belarus. This decision made by the head of state will certainly contribute to further strengthening of interstate relations.
“Belarusian-Egyptian cooperation has serious prospects and I think that your return visit to our country will make it possible to continue the interaction. Therefore, I would like to once again confirm to you the invitation to pay an official visit to the Republic of Belarus at any time convenient for you,” the chairman of the House of Representatives said.
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