Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat met with H.E. Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, who is visiting Egypt as part of a high-level delegation led by the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, to strengthen the relations between Egypt and Vietnam.
During the meeting, Al-Mashat emphasized the depth of the Egyptian-Vietnamese joint relations and the broad prospects available for further cooperation, especially through the Joint Committee. In this regard, Dien affirmed his country's keenness and interest in advancing areas of cooperation with Egypt, considering it as Vietnam's strategic partner in the African continent.
The two ministers stressed the importance of the joint committees’ mechanism to study and provide more areas of joint cooperation between countries. They also stressed the importance of the Egyptian-Vietnamese Joint Committee in discussing and putting cooperation mechanisms into practice, in light of the interest of the leaders of both countries and their aspirations to advance common relations to reflect the developmental aspirations of both countries in all fields.
The two ministers agreed on the importance of advancing preparations for the 6th session of the Egyptian-Vietnamese Joint Committee to be held as soon as possible. The committee will be chaired by the Ministry of International Cooperation from the Egyptian side and the Ministry of Industry and Trade from the Vietnamese side, directing their technical teams to start discourses with the relevant parties to discuss proposed areas of cooperation to enhance them during the upcoming session of the Joint Committee.
In a related context, both sides emphasized the importance of discussions between the private sectors of the two countries and exploring the multiple investment opportunities in Egypt and Vietnam. Their excellencies also underlined the need to strengthen joint relations between companies and investors from the two countries through various mechanisms, which will reflect positively on joint relations.
Dien extended an invitation to Al-Mashat to visit Vietnam to gain a deeper understanding of the available opportunities for joint cooperation and to enhance discussions on advancing areas of work that meet the priorities of both countries.
It is worth mentioning that Egyptian-Vietnamese relations date back to the 1960s, and in 1997, an agreement was signed to establish a Joint Ministerial Committee between the two countries, where five sessions have been held so far. Vietnam is one of the founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). In 2017, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, visited Vietnam as the first visit of an Egyptian president to the Republic of Vietnam, and the visit witnessed the signing of many joint cooperation documents.