Sisi Asian tour new step to boost Egypt's position

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will start an Asian tour Tuesday by visiting Russia then China, Indonesia and Singapore. The tour is a new step toward boosting Egypt’s international position.

Sisi’s visits to Russia and China asserts Egypt’s balanced relations with major powers, he said.

Also, Sisi’s visits to Indonesia and Singapore reflect Egypt’s keenness on opening new horizons with different countries of the world for the best interest of the Egyptians, MENA's diplomatic editor said.

Sisi’s visit to Singapore is the first visit by an Egyptian president to the country which is a major economic center, he added.

Also, this is the first visit of an Egyptian president to Indonesia since 1983, he said.

The editor said that the distinguished relations with Russia witnessed a big leap after President Sisi took office especially after his visit in August 2014.

Also, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Egypt in February and the strategic dialogue was activated between Egypt and Russia, he said.

The editor added that Moscow sees Cairo as a decision-making center, adding that there are cooperation agreements between the foreign ministries of both states and periodic meetings.

On the Egyptian-Russian economic ties, the editor said that the volume of trade in 2014 reached 5.48 billion dollars, including 540 billion dollars as Egyptian exports and 4.9 billion as Egyptian imports.

The volume of Egyptian investments in Russia is 9 million dollars, he said, adding that the tourism ties are developed as 1.3 million tourists visited Egypt in the first half of 2015.

Egypt and Russian also cooperate in the fields of energy and mining along with cultural cooperation, he said.