Sisi meets GAZ head upon arrival to Russia’s Sochi

CAIRO – 23 October 2019: Upon his arrival to Russia’s Sochi, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met with the head of the automotive manufacturing company GAZ, according to statements of presidency spokesperson Bassam Rady on Tuesday.

Rady added the meeting tackled the cooperation between GAZ and Egypt during the coming period; GAZ is currently one of the major operating companies in Russia.

Sisi arrived in Sochi on Tuesday morning to participate in the Russian-African summit set to kick off on Oct. 23. The summit will be attended by more than 40 African leaders, in addition to 300 businessmen who were announced to participate in a business forum held on the sidelines of the summit.

Sisi will also be co-chairing the summit as the president of the African Union (AU) along with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

In a statement to Sputnik news agency, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the summit was Putin’s idea to enhance the Russian-African relations. He added that this summit reflects the good relations between Russia and Egypt.

Sisi and Putin met nearly eleven times since 2014. Their last two summits were during April and June 2019 during the G20 summit in Japan and the Belt and Road Summit in Beijing, respectively.

In statements to the media delegation accompanying President Sisi, Rady referred to the Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation Agreement between Cairo and Moscow, which was signed in October 2018, according to MENA news agency.

Rady clarified that Sisi and Putin's 12th summit will be tackling means of boosting strategic relations between the two countries, stressing that the Egyptian-Russian relations in all fields are "at their best."

"Russia invests in mega projects in Egypt, such as the Russian Industrial Zone east the Suez Canal, the spokesman said, noting that it is Russia’s first industrial zone outside the Russian borders.

The spokesperson explained that Sisi and putin's talks will focus on the Russian investments in infrastructure in Africa, Egypt’s vision with regard to the African development issues, security cooperation and combating terrorism in light of the current developments in the Middle East.

"Sisi and Putin are also set to discuss the latest developments in the initiatives that aim to resume the Russian flights to Egypt’s tourist destinations, in addition to the situation in the Middle East," the spokesman concluded.