First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic received today the first courtesy call by the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt in the Republic of Serbia Amr Aljowaily, whose term-of-office commenced on 16 February 2018, when he presented his Letters of Credence to President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic.

In cordial talks, both sides reaffirmed mutual interest in all-round enhancement of bilateral relations between the two countries. Having in mind that 2018 marks 110th anniversary since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Belgrade and Cairo, the interlocutors supported the idea to consider the possibility of publishing a monograph dedicated to the jubilee and of making a documentary about the history of the two countries' relations, in cooperation with the Archive of Serbia, Archives of Yugoslavia and other film and cultural institutions from both Serbia and Egypt.

In addition to the interest in further advancement of cultural, educational, scientific and technological and sports cooperation, both sides noted huge opportunities for further development of economic, trading and political cooperation, bilateral and multilateral alike. Belgrade and Cairo were historically centres of multilateral diplomacy and are today treating responsibly the key issues of the surrounding regions – the Balkans and the Middle East and Africa.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic emphasized that Serbia supported Egypt in its efforts to eliminate any presence of terrorism in the Sinai in 2018.

Egyptian Ambassador Amr Aljowaily expressed an interest in Serbia becoming involved in the work of the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, having in mind that Egypt would be presiding over the African Union in 2019, he also pointed to opportunities for cooperation with the African peacebuilding network.

Minister Ivica Dacic expressed his hope that Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt Sameh Shoukry would visit Serbia soon, and that the Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation would hold its session.