Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Baku, on the second day of the former's official visit to Azerbaijan on Saturday. They discussed boosting the bilateral relations between the two countries and addressed regional and international issues of mutual concern. This was the first visit by an Egyptian president to Azerbaijan. Al-Sisi expressed his sincere condolences and sympathy on behalf of the Egyptian people for the victims of the shooting incident at the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured, and expressing solidarity with Azerbaijan in this painful incident, which reaffirms the importance of renouncing extremism, violence and terrorism. During the meeting, Aliyev expressed his gratitude to Al-Sisi for this generous gesture, praising the close bilateral relations between Egypt and Azerbaijan, while affirming his country's keenness to continue advancing those relations, and enhancing cooperation and coordination between the two countries at all levels, especially in light of Egypt's pivotal role as a pillar of stability, security and peace in the Middle East and Africa. President Al-Sisi praised the strength and distinction of the extended relations between Egypt and Azerbaijan. The talks witnessed ways to strengthen bilateral relations at various levels, where Aliyev praised the economic reform path in Egypt. The two sides stressed the importance of building on the depth of historical relations and the good friendship between Egypt and Azerbaijan at the official and popular levels. Moreover, the two presidents also stressed the importance of working to enhance trade exchange and consolidate economic partnerships between the private sectors in the two countries, through the formation of a joint council for businessmen. Strengthening cooperation between the two sides in a number of sectors was also discussed, in light of the enormous potential enjoyed by the two countries and the many opportunities for cooperation in general, especially in the field of new and renewable energy or natural gas, in addition to cooperation in other fields such as construction and infrastructure, transportation, pharmaceutical industries, tourism and culture. The talks also touched on various developments in regional and international issues of common concern, as the Azerbaijani president praised the positive role played by Egypt in the framework of working on a political settlement of all existing crises in its regional environment. In this context, the views of the two countries agreed on the importance of supporting efforts for a political settlement in Syria, continuing to work on rebuilding the country, eliminating terrorist groups, and supporting state institutions, in a way that preserves the territorial integrity of Syria, meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people, and ends their human suffering. As for the developments in the Libyan situation, president Al-Sisi reviewed Egypt's vision for a settlement in Libya and its efforts in this regard to support the political, constitutional and economic tracks. The meeting also discussed the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis at the international level, in addition to exchanging visions on developments in the Palestinian cause. During the talks, efforts to combat terrorism and extremist ideology were also discussed. Both presidents witnessed the signing of a number of joint memorandums of understanding between the concerned government agencies in the two countries for cooperation in the fields of culture and water resources, and between the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy.
