Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt Sameh Shoukry.

The Ministers welcomed the intensification of bilateral relations after the talks between the Presidents of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi last summer. The parties outlined the priorities for further intensification of the dialogue at high and the highest levels and agreed to hold political consultations between the foreign ministries this year.

Dmytro Kuleba and Sameh Shoukry discussed preparations for this year's meeting of the Ukrainian-Egyptian intergovernmental commission on economic, scientific and technical cooperation and the signing of new agreements between the two countries.

"I am convinced that the meeting of the Commission will give an important impetus to the development of trade and economic cooperation between Ukraine and Egypt, will enrich our relations with new serious projects," said Dmytro Kuleba.

Sameh Shoukry assured Dmytro Kuleba of mutual readiness to prepare and hold abovementioned event for the development of trade between Ukraine and Egypt.

The Egyptian Minister positively noted the constant interest of Ukrainian tourists in visiting Egypt and assured that the Egyptian side is ready to continue to provide the highest standards of service and travel safety in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dmytro Kuleba renewed his invitation to his Egyptian colleague to pay an official visit to Ukraine at a time convenient for him after the stabilization of the epidemic situation.

For reference: Egypt is a key economic partner of Ukraine on the African continent. The total volume of trade in goods and services between Ukraine and Egypt in 2020 amounted to USD 1.8 billion dollars.

The main items of Ukrainian exports: grain, ferrous metals, fats and oils of animal or vegetable origin, tobacco and its industrial substitutes. The basis of imports from Egypt are edible fruits, mostly citrus (49.3%).

In 2020, 727 thousand Ukrainian tourists visited Egypt. According to this indicator, Ukraine took first place among foreign countries whose citizens visited Egypt last year for tourism purposes.