Djuric, Abdelatty: Serbia-Egypt relations "in golden era"

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric said on Wednesday a visit to Belgrade by his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty represented a major contribution to boosting bilateral relations, which he noted were in a "golden era" and noted that a huge potential for economic cooperation was spurred by Serbia's ambition to become Europe's fastest-growing economy in 2025.

At a press conference with Abdelatty, Djuric noted that a FTA with Egypt would be ratified in the Serbian parliament in the coming days, and the Egyptian minister said the agreement would boost bilateral trade by 400 times.

Djuric said he had informed Abdelatty that Serbia had doubled its GDP in less than a decade and that it was preparing for EXPO 2027 - to be hosted by Belgrade - and expecting to see a large Egyptian pavilion at the event.

He said Egypt was one of Serbia's closest partners in the international arena and that the friendship between the two countries had been confirmed in good as well as bad times, and forged out of their desire to pursue sovereign foreign and internal policies, further solidified under the leadership of their presidents, Aleksandar Vucic and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

"Today's visit represents a significant contribution to further strengthening of our relations, which I would most prefer to describe as representing a new golden era in Serbia-Egypt relations," Djuric said, noting that the two countries maintained political exchange, a strategic partnership and close cooperation on global, regional and international issues, and added that Serbia would back an Egyptian candidate for UNESCO director.

He said his meeting with Abdelatty had also addressed cultural and educational cooperation but especially focused on economic cooperation.

"We want to host a serious, large delegation of Egyptian businesspeople in Serbia this year and send another large delegation of Serbian businesspeople to Egypt, and we want this year to really be a year of a major leap when it comes to economic exchange between our two countries, with the FTA to be ratified in the Serbian parliament in the coming days," Djuric said.

Abdelatty said his visit to Belgrade would help strengthen cooperation in all areas.

He said recent high- and top-level visits best reflected the quality of Serbia-Egypt relations.

He reiterated Egypt's support for Serbia and said his country saw Serbia as a great friend, given the historical ties between the two states.

Abdelatty announced Egypt would be represented on a high level at EXPO 2027, given the significance of the event.

He said he had also met with the Serbian PM, parliament speaker and minister of labour earlier in the day, and noted that he was confident his visit would help strengthen cooperation in all areas and broaden the horizons of that cooperation.

Abdelatty announced a session of a Serbia-Egypt committee on military cooperation would be held soon and that a joint committee on economic, technical and scientific cooperation would also meet this year.