Egyptian minister envisages bright future for Iran-Egypt tourism ties

Egypt's Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou underlined the Iranian and Egyptian governments and nations' strong enthusiasm for the expansion of mutual cooperation in tourism fields, and predicted a bright future for the tourism ties between Tehran and Cairo.Speaking to FNA in Cairo on Wednesday, Zaazou pointed to his visit to Tehran on February 25 during which he discussed expansion of bilateral tourism ties in meetings with senior Iranian officials, and said, "What I found in the visit was that the Iranian side attaches great attention to the establishment of ties with Egypt.""I observed that the Iranian side has great respect and attaches much value to Egyptians and Egypt as a key and important country in the region and I observed that Iranians are highly eager to visit Egypt and its civilization and culture.""I told the Egyptian government that there are bright prospects for Iran and Egypt (ties)," Zaazou underscored, and added, "I tell the Iranian people that God willing Egypt will open its arms to the people of Iran as tourists and visitors."On 1 April, more than 50 Iranian tourists arrived in Upper Egypt as the first official group from Iran to visit Egypt for tourism in decades. The visit came as part of a bilateral tourism agreement signed in February.After the collapse of Hosni Mubarak's regime, the Iranian and Egyptian officials voiced their interest in the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi officially invited the then Egyptian counterpart Nabil Al-Arabi to pay a visit to Tehran.Later, the Iranian foreign minister and his former Egyptian counterpart also held a meeting in Bali, Indonesia.Also, during the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran late August, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Egyptian counterpart Mohammad Mursi conferred on ways to promote the bilateral relations between Tehran and Cairo, and stressed the need for continued consultations in this regard.In the latest development, Ahmadinejad met with Mursi in Egypt in January, and reiterated Tehran's preparedness to resume ties with Cairo.The two presidents explored avenues for the further expansion of mutual cooperation between their countries.