Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS summit.
During the bilateral session, Sisi expressed his happiness at meeting Putin and stressed his appreciation for Russia’s support for Egypt’s accession to the BRICS group.
Egypt’s President also praised the efforts made by Russia throughout its presidency of the group.
“Egypt has been keen to participate in various events held during the Russian presidency, and I am happy to participate in the Kazan summit as it is the first summit in which Egypt participates as a full member of the group,” Sisi said.
President Sisi stressed Egypt’s aspiration to activate further cooperation channels with Russia, “Whether bilaterally or through multilateral cooperation channels, most notably the BRICS group.”
“We support any efforts related to transforming the group into a platform capable of confronting the negative repercussions resulting from international crises, taking into account the importance of investing in the opportunity currently witnessed by the BRICS group to reach effective solutions aimed at protecting the interests of its members away from any external restrictions or pressures, especially with regard to trade dealings, especially between Egypt and Russia,” he added.
Sisi pointed out “the importance of enhancing trade exchange and local currencies within the BRICS group and reforming the international financial system in a way that achieves the interests of the two countries and the countries of the world.”
He also referred to “The development witnessed by bilateral relations since the signing of the Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation Agreement between the two countries in 2018, and the effective Russian contribution to the implementation of national projects, most notably the Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant, and the importance we attach to the Russian Industrial Zone project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.”
“I stress the importance of the House of Representatives completing ratification of the government financing agreement for it, and the importance of the work of experts from both sides to accelerate implementation and avoid any obstacles, so that it represents, with the Chinese industrial zone, the nucleus of an economic zone for the BRICS countries,” Sisi concluded.