HANGZHOU. Sept 5 (Interfax) - Russia and Egypt put economic contacts on top of their bilateral agenda, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the G20 summit sidelines.
"We have a long history of interaction and cooperation, and bilateral relations have been particularly productive in recent years," the Russian leader said, adding that he valued good and trust-based relations with his Egyptian colleague.
"I'd like to say that our relations have also been developing between governments and parliaments. Cooperation has been established between security councils and law enforcement agencies. Indeed, economic cooperation issues are always in the focus of our attention," the Russian president said. He said he always had things to discuss with his Egyptian colleague.
Cairo values successful economic collaboration with Russia and intends to develop relations, the Egyptian president said. "We appreciate the practical success achieved in bilateral cooperation in recent years. For instance, we entered into an agreement on building a nuclear power plant in El Dabaa this year. Related work has begun with Russia's Rosatom company," he said.
"I'd like to note permanent contacts between the two industry ministries on the creation of Egyptian-Russian industrial zones, which will bring our partnership to a whole new level," the Egyptian president said. He thanked his Russian colleague for the opportunity to meet and said that Cairo always wanted to develop relations with Moscow.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev, Rosatom General Director Sergei Kiriyenko, Rosneft (MOEX: ROSN) CEO Igor Sechin and Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev attended the meeting on Russia's behalf.
The Egyptian delegation comprised ministers and a number of other senior officials.