Sisi praises economic agreements with Argentine

CAIRO - 16 July 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi welcomed the ratification of the Argentine Parliament for the free trade agreement that was signed between Egypt and Mercosur bloc, during his meeting with Vice-President of the Argentine Gabriela Michetti.

The president continued that ratification will contribute to put the agreement into force and will promote trade exchange between Egypt and the countries of the assembly, led by Argentina.

In 2010, Egypt and Mercosur bloc that include - countries of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay - signed the agreement, and the Argentina parliament has approved it after seven years. Meanwhile, Egypt ratified the agreement in 2013 to open new markets for Egyptian products in Latin American countries and increase exports.

The bloc was established in 1991 purposing to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency.

The vice-president of Argentina said that the entry of the agreement into force would open new horizons for increasing trade exchange and economic cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, Sisi expressed Egypt's keenness to enhance cooperation with Argentine in various fields, in which the Argentinean affirmed that her visit to Egypt comes in light of the pivotal role Egypt is playing at the regional and international levels, stressing her country's desire to intensify cooperation with Egypt in various fields.

She also asserted her country desire to improve existing cooperation frameworks to achieve a qualitative leap in bilateral relations during the coming period.

The vice-president visit to Egypt came in celebration of the two countries 70th anniversary of strong diplomatic relations. It also came as a preparation for an upcoming visit of the Argentine President to Egypt, and a practical expression of Argentina's desire to strengthen relations with Egypt.

Sisi further referred to the positive results of the meeting that was hold with his Argentine counterpart in September 2016 on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in China, and also the results of the agreement signed between both sides on the importance of upgrading the bilateral relations at various levels.

In this regard, the president stressed on the importance of activating the joint economic and trade committee that was formed to follow work between the two countries, in order to discuss various aspects of boosting economic cooperation between the two sides and work to achieve balance in the trade balance of about $2 billion.

The president further reviewed the ongoing national projects and the steps being taken by the government to provide an attractive environment for investment as well as the recent economic reform measures.

On her turn, Michetti praised recent measures taken for economic reform in Egypt, pointing out that Argentina has had a similar experience and that during the past years has been able to make significant progress in terms of overall development.

The Argentine official stressed on the existence of many opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in different fields, especially in the sectors of agriculture, scientific research, technology, clean and renewable energy, education, culture and sports.

She also agreed with the president on the importance of holding the joint economic and trade committee at the earliest opportunity.

The president also noted the close cooperation between the two countries in the fields of energy and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Moreover, the meeting witnessed talks between the delegations of the two countries on ways to enhance trade exchange and bilateral cooperation, especially in the fields of agriculture, food security and agro-food and supplementary industries. Two sides also discussed ways to develop cooperation in combating terrorism and extremist thoughts.