Although started in the last century, the bilateral relations between Serbia and Egypt have especially being boosted in the last decade. But the quality of their relations is not only about political relations, mutual visits of Serbian and Egyptian businessmen, tourists and students became regular, too. Therefore, the competent ministries of Egypt and Serbia look forward to marking the 115th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries by organizing a series of official visits and cultural events in both countries.
Only in June of this year, the Governor of South Sinai, General Khaled Fuda, and the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Shawki Alam, visited Belgrade, while bilateral political consultations of two ministries of foreign affairs were held in Cairo.
Perhaps the quality of bilateral relations can best be observed through the last year visit of President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. It was the first visit of an Egyptian president to Serbia after 35 years. On that occasion, President Vučić presented the Order of the Republic of Serbia to the President of Egypt for exceptional services in developing friendly relations between the two countries.
During that visit, the Presidents of Serbia and Egypt, Aleksandar Vučić and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, signed the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership in the desire to give a new impetus to friendship, trust and all-round cooperation between the two countries in the second century since the establishment of diplomatic relations.
The Declaration was signed with respect for the principles of mutual respect, equality and non-interference in internal affairs, the chosen path of internal development and foreign policy commitments. One of the goals of the Declaration is to maintain the upward trend of political dialogue at the highest level, while emphasizing support for the basic values and principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, while confirming strong commitment to the goals and principles of the UN Charter, as well as the ideals and values of the Non-Aligned Movement.
In the Declaration, Serbia and Egypt emphasized mutual support for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, supporting mutual vital interests and confirming the importance of cooperation in the fight against terrorism and effective response to threats to peace and stability. These are the reasons why two countries decided to establish a strategic partnership, which will be based on mutual understanding and trust, and will include close and diligent cooperation in several areas.
The areas covered are political coordination in bilateral issues and regional and international issues ofcommon interest, then the preservation of international peace, based on the norms of international law, the UN Charter and the promotion of equality between states, and especially respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. The declaration also covers the areas of defense and security, as well as the fight against terrorism, inter-parliamentary ties and cooperation, economic cooperation between the two countries based on the free trade agreement, the conclusion of which the two sides will begin official negotiations, in the fields of agriculture and food industry, tourism, transport , science, technology, telecommunications, industry.
On the basis of the Joint Declaration, the negotiations on Free Trade Agreement have been started. In this light, Serbia also supported Egypt’s initiative to hold the Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation in order to facilitate economic cooperation. Both sides are making efforts to sign the Free Trade Agreement in the year of jubilee. This agreement will enable an increase in the volume of trade between countries.
According to available data, Serbia imports more from Egypt than exports. In 2020, Serbia exported goods worth 33.3 million euros and imported 57.7 million euros. But only in first five months of 2022 the trade exchange between the two countries recorded a growth of 75 %.As Ambassador of Egypt to the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Bassel Salah, assessed, the current international situation represents an opportunity for both countries to intensify their partnership in order to overcome the consequences of the current crisis, as well as to diversify the sources of their imports.
The Serbian Chamber of Commerce states that Egypt is the African country with perhaps the greatest potential for increasing exchange due to its level of development and proximity. The Arab Republic of Egypt is the second largest economy in Africa with a GDP of USD 12,000 per inhabitant on an annual basis. Egypt is an important exporter with about 40 billion USD annually, a large producer of textiles, sugar cane and beet, pharmaceutical products, and an exporter of oil and gas.
Egypt is an extremely important tourist destination that generates almost 15 billion USD annually, and over 30 million people work directly or indirectly in this branch. According to available data, Egypt is among the four most popular destinations for Serbian tourists, right after Montenegro, Greece and Turkey, and the number of tourists who visit this country annually is between 30,000 and 50,000, the Egyptian embassy in Belgrade announced.
The areas in which they believe that cooperation can be developed first are the agricultural and food sector, the energy sector, telecommunications and information technologies, and healthcare. The main items that Serbia now exports are tobacco for smoking, for the tobacco industry, military goods, radio navigation devices, used tractors and jet fuel. Tobacco exports make up almost 92 % of the value of the total export of agricultural products. The items that Serbia imports the most from Egypt are unground natural calcium phosphates and phosphate chalk, salt, frozen strawberries without sugar and sweet oranges.
