MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is planned for late October in Sochi when the Russia-Africa summit will be held, according to the Roscongress foundation, which is the summit’s organizer.
The Russia-Africa summit and economic forum will take place on October 23-24 in Sochi’s Olympiisky Park. State leaders from more than 50 countries of the continent were invited to the summit, and more than 40 of them already confirmed their participation. Putin and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who chairs the African Union, will co-chair the summit. More than 3,000 African business representatives and high-level delegates from Russia and the African countries will take part in the economic forum.
Roscongress noted that a meeting between Russian Presidential Adviser Anton Kobyakov and Egyptian Ambassador to Russia Ihab Nasr was held in Moscow on Wednesday. The sides discussed the Egyptian delegation’s participation in the Russia-Africa summit and economic forum.
"Relations between Russia and Egypt are on the rise now. This country is Russia’s reliable partner not just in the Middle East but globally as well," Roscongress quoted Kobyakov as saying. The Russian presidential adviser stated that "Russian-Egyptian economic cooperation has been actively developing over the recent years, the volume of mutual trade is growing, and there is active cooperation in the sphere of education and scientific-technical cooperation." He said that "there are grounds to believe that this positive dynamics will be preserved," and the forthcoming summit and the economic forum "will make it possible to discuss the further plans to consolidate Russian-Egyptian cooperation in all areas."
The Egyptian delegation will be broadly represented in Sochi. Egypt’s leading business representatives will take part in the economic forum.
The Egyptian ambassador stressed the importance of comprehensive cooperation and strategic partnership with Russia. He noted that the year 2020 will become a year of humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Egypt. "The upcoming meeting in Sochi will become a symbolic discovery of this year. I am confident that at the Russia-Africa Summit and Forum we will be able to set a direction for our cooperation for years to come," Nasr said.
The previous negotiations between the Russian and Egyptian presidents were held in June in Osaka during the G20 summit when the leaders discussed preparations for the upcoming Russia-Africa meeting.