Hanoi (VNA) – Egypt is always willing to enhance its tieswith Vietnam for the sake of common interests of the two nations, PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi said in Hanoi on September 6 at a State banquet to welcomehim and the Egyptian delegation hosted by the Vietnamese President.

The Egyptian President stressed that the traditional friendship betweenthe two countries and the common perception reached between high-levelofficials of both sides during his State visit to Vietnam provide a firmfoundation for Egypt and Vietnam to strengthen political coordination andexpand economic and trade cooperation, as well as to promote cultural andpeople-to-people exchanges.

For his part, President Tran Dai Quang said Vietnam highly values Egypt’srole as a founding member of the Non-aligned Movement and in outlining the Movement’sbasic principles on independence, national sovereignty and cooperation for mutualbenefit and peace among nations. Those principles uphold their value today andstill serve as the guideline for the traditional friendship between Vietnam andEgypt, he said.

Quang expressed his belief that with the resolve of both sides’ leaders,the bilateral cooperation will continue to develop in a substantial manner,meeting the aspiration and interests of people of the two countries andcontributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development ineach region and the world as a whole.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is making a State visit to Vietnam at theinvitation of his Vietnamese counterpart. This is the first visit by a Stateleader of Egypt to Vietnam since the two countries set up diplomatic relationson September 1, 1963. -VNA