Sisi, Ouattara affirm strengthening bilateral ties

CAIRO – 12 April 2019: In the first visit of the Egyptian President to Côte d'Ivoire ever, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi discussed with his Côte d'Ivoire counterpart Alassane Ouattara the necessity for activating the joint ministerial committee between both countries to enhance the bilateral economic relations, said Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi in a statement on Thursday.

Following his two-day visit to Washington, President Sisi, the president of the African Union in 2019, headed to Cote D'ivoire to boost the bilateral relations between both sides. The Western African country is the second leg for Sisi’s African tour included Guinea and Senegal.

President Ouattara welcomed President Sisi’s unprecedented visit, expressing his country’s keenness to boost the bilateral relations, particularly in Information Technology field, Radi added.

Côte d'Ivoire’s president applauded Egyptian companies’ business in his country, promising to remove all obstacles against the economic investment environment, Radi said.
President Sisi affirmed Egypt’s keenness to encourage Egyptian investments in the African country and to support the infrastructure projects and information technology, and the military cooperation.

As for the international issues of mutual concern, the both leaders talked about the Libyan ongoing military escalation, counter-terrorism efforts, and reconstruction of war-stricken countries, Radi said.

Egypt was one of the first countries to recognize the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire in the same year of its independence in 1960. The first Egyptian diplomatic representation was established at the level of Chargé d'Affaires in 1963, raising representation to the level of the embassy in 1967 in Cairo in the same year, said Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) in a report on Wednesday.

The report noted that Egypt and Côte d'Ivoire share the membership of several organizations, including the United Nations, as well as a number of other regional and international organizations and groups such as the Islamic Conference and the African Union.

In December 2018, President Sisi received an invitation from President Ouattara to visit Yamoussoukro. During a meeting with Vice President of Cote d'Ivoire, Daniel Kablan Duncan, Sisi received a hand-written letter, in which Ouattara invited Sisi to visit his country, according to presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi.