The Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Arab Republic of Egypt Hanafy El Gebaly in St.
Petersburg. They discussed issues of the development of inter-parliamentary
economic and social cooperation between Russia and Egypt. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum.
The Chairman of the State Duma noted the strategic partnership between Russia and Egypt: “Our countries have a long history of relations; Egypt is one of Russia’s main counterparts in the Middle East and Africa.”
Vyacheslav Volodin invited Hanafy El Gebaly to sign an agreement on the creation of an inter-parliamentary commission on cooperation between the State Duma and the House of Representatives of Egypt. This format is actively used with the UAE, Iran and China, as added the Chairman of the State Duma.
“It is important for us to make our contacts more systematic and find new formats of cooperation that could help us achieve joint goals and solve the problems our states are facing,” said Vyacheslav Volodin.
“We fully support the idea of signing a cooperation agreement between the State Duma and the House of Representatives. For our part, we will do everything necessary for signing and will further develop our relations,” emphasized Hanafy El Gebaly.
Speaking about the bilateral relations, there was noted the dynamic trade growth: over the past year, compared to the previous year, it increased by 16.4% and reached $7.1 billion, as said Vyacheslav Volodin. “If we talk about educational programs, 12 thousand Egyptian students are studying in our country. Cooperation in the oil and gas areas, as well as energy, is enhancing,” added the Chairman of the State Duma. One of the main areas of cooperation between Russia and Egypt is tourism: in 2023, the number of Russian citizens who visited Egyptian resorts exceeded 1 million people, as noted Vyacheslav Volodin.
“We see the need to enhance parliamentary relations and increase efficiency, and it is important for us to keep pace with the times and participate in the implementation of large-scale projects between our countries,” he added.
“We welcome Russia’s chairmanship and hope that all our efforts will lead to the further prosperity of BRICS,” emphasized the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Egypt.
The Chairman of the State Duma thanked the Egyptian side for its balanced position on the situation in Ukraine. “We attach great importance to the development of relations with Egypt, and we appreciate your position on non-supporting sanctions,” he added.
Vyacheslav
Volodin invited Hanafy El Gebaly to pay an official visit to Russia. The Chairman of the State Duma also accepted the invitation of the Egyptian side to visit Egypt and instructed the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Vladislav
Davankov
Vladislav Andreyevich
to organize the visit.
On July 11–12, St. Petersburg hosts the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum
at the Tauride Palace. As part of the events of the Forum, parliamentarians
will discuss the role of parliaments in enhancing the efficiency of the system
of international relations and ensuring its democratization, issues of countering the fragmentation of the multilateral trading system and the results
of global crises. Aspects of inter-parliamentary humanitarian and cultural
cooperation will also be discussed at the meetings.
The Russian Federation chairs BRICS in 2024.
