Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi was awarded the Order of the Serbian State by his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić, in the former's first visit to Serbia to discuss bilateral relations between both countries. They also launched a strategic partnership between the two countries by signing a number of cooperation agreements. The Egyptian president thanked Vučić for his invitation to visit Serbia and for the warm reception and hospitality. He also renewed his congratulations to Vučić on his re-election for a second term, which reflects the confidence of Serbian citizens in his leadership at a historical stage, characterised by many political and economic challenges. Furthermore, Al-Sisi praised the strength of the extended relations between Egypt and Serbia and the extent of their distinction, expressing his country's mutual interest in developing and upgrading these relations in all fields, continuing coordination and political consultation between the two countries, and exploring aspects of cooperation between them. Al-Sisi also called for the maximisation of cooperation with the Serbian side in various fields, especially at the level of the military, economy, trade, and tourism as per the consensus in the visions between the two countries on the course of regional and international situations, especially with the state of instability in the international arena. Additionally, the talks covered various developments in regional and international issues of common interest, especially the war in Ukraine and its repercussions on the global economy, as well as the situations in Yemen, Syria, and Libya, which the Serbian President praised the positive role Egypt played to alleviate the crises in these countries. The Serbian President also praised the remarkable development boom that Egypt has been witnessing in recent years, stressing his country's aspiration to enhance mutual investments in many sectors and maximising the volume of trade exchange between the two friendly countries. Moreover, he called for a qualitative leap in Egyptian-Serbian economic relations, especially through the participation of Serbian companies in the implementation of mega national projects in Egypt. The two presidents witnessed the signing ceremony of a number of memoranda of understanding and cooperation programmes between the two countries in the fields of agriculture, environment, investment, culture, arts, media, education, higher education, standardization and information support, development of SMEs. They also approved mutual exemption of entry visas for holders of diplomatic, special, and mission passports.
