NEW YORK, September 25, 2018 (MENA) - President Abdel Fattah El Sisi affirmed Egypt's keenness to consolidate its distinguished partnership with the United States. The president was speaking at a meeting he had with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, according to Presidency Spokesman Bassam Radi. The US president welcomed Sisi to New York City, stressing the interest of the US administration in strengthening and advancing its strategic relations with Egypt and activating the co-operation frameworks between the two countries, Radi said. Trump, he added, also expressed his hope to augment coordination and consultation with Egypt on Middle East issues and means of reaching a settlement to crises in the region in light of Egypt's central regional role and its desire and ability to contribute to achieving stability and security for all peoples of the Middle East countries. Sisi, he also said, affirmed that Egypt looks forward to further coordination and consultation with the United States on various regional issues, including terrorism which he described as the greatest threat to the stability of the region and the whole world. In this same context, the meeting took up the issue of combatting terrorism, Radi noted, saying that Trump praised Egypt's firm and successful terrorism-combat efforts and described it as one of the leading countries in the fight against this threat and a pivotal partner of the US in the war on terrorism. President Sisi stressed the importance of continuing Egyptian-US cooperation to fight against terrorist groups and eliminate terrorism by cutting off its funding sources, stopping arms supplies and support to terrorists and preventing them from having safe havens, the spokesman said. He also said that the meeting dealt with different aspects of bilateral cooperation between Egypt and the United States, especially as regards the economic domains, noting that they discussed increasing US investments in the Egyptian market, the progress achieved by Egypt in implementing its economic reform programme and creating an investment-friendly climate and ratcheting up trade.
