Armenian government ready to assist all initiatives aimed at  developing Armenian-Egyptian relations

ArmInfo. The Government of  Armenia is ready to assist all initiatives aimed at the development  of Armenian-Egyptian relations. On February 11, receiving Egyptian  Ambassador to Armenia Bahaa El Din Bahgat Dessouki, Deputy Prime  Minister Mher Grigoryan said.

According to him, quoted by the press service of the RA government,  historical and cultural ties and dynamically developing interstate  relations can become a prerequisite for further expansion of  bilateral trade and economic cooperation. Mher Grigoryan also pointed  out the close relations existing between the two states in the  spheres of education, culture and tourism, which have great potential  for cooperation.

The Deputy Prime Minister presented the course of the negotiation  process on the creation of a free trade zone between the EEU and  Egypt, expressing the hope that the conclusion of the agreement will  also contribute to the development of Armenian-Egyptian relations.

The Egyptian Ambassador, expressing gratitude for the reception,  noted that he would make every effort to raise Armenian-Egyptian  relations to a qualitatively new level.  The interlocutors exchanged  views on bilateral cooperation in various fields and possible  directions for their further development.

Earlier, ArmInfo, citing the press service of the Eurasian Economic  Commission, reported that the EAEU and Egypt had successfully  completed the first round of negotiations on the conclusion of a free  trade agreement, which was held in Cairo (Egypt) on January 15-17. In  connection with the commencement of the talks, a visit was made to  Cairo by Armenian Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Council of  the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Mher Grigoryan and Member of  the Board (Minister) for the EEC Trade, Veronika Nikishina. The  parties discussed the main provisions of the agreement, fixed the  agreed positions and outlined the schedule for further work. The EAEU  and Egypt demonstrated readiness for a constructive dialogue on the  whole range of issues raised in the agreement, and confirmed their  desire to develop a full-fledged progressive agreement aimed at  ensuring high-quality predictability of trade conditions and  transparency of trade regulation. The trade agreement will create new  opportunities for the EEU countries to develop and diversify trade  with Egypt. The trade turnover between the EEU countries and Egypt  for the ten months of 2018 amounted to $ 5.8 billion, an increase of  21.2% compared with the same period in 2017. During the visit,  high-level meetings of Mher Grigorian and Veronika Nikishina were  held with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, and Egyptian  Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar. The parties noted the high  significance of the future agreement for the development of trade and  economic relations between the EEU countries and Egypt and expressed  their readiness to provide the necessary support to delegations for  the successful advancement of the negotiations. Recall that at  present the Eurasian Economic Union is negotiating the conclusion of  free trade agreements with the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic  of Singapore, the Republic of Serbia and the State of Israel.