Sisi, Putin talk bilateral relations on fringe of BRICS summit

XIAMEN - China - 5 September 2017: Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of the 9th BRICS summit here on Monday.

The two leaders discussed boosting bilateral cooperation and other issues of mutual interest.

Earlier in the day, President Sisi addressed a session organized by the BRICS summit on the positive developments of the Egyptian economy.

The session was attended by a host of businessmen representing the BRICS member states.

Later today, Sisi will attend a dinner banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in honor of participating leaders in the summit.

He will also attend a concert organized by China on the occasion of the summit's inauguration.

Sisi arrived here on Sunday to take pat in the BRICS summit upon an invitation by President Xi.

The Shanghai-based BRICS group comprises the large fast-growing nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and recent member South Africa.

The five nations have a combined nominal GDP of US$16.6 trillion, equivalent to approximately 22% of the gross world product, combined GDP (PPP) of around US$37 trillion and an estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves.