2024-02-10 07:30:24
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel is on a one-day official visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced.
This is the first visit of a Bulgarian foreign minister there in nearly 12 years. The purpose of the visit is the development and deepening of cooperation between the two countries with an emphasis on trade and economic relations in energy, transport, defense, innovation, tourism, food industry.
The delegation headed by Gabriel also includes the Ministers of Defense Todor Tagarev, Ministers of Energy Rumen Radev, Ministers of Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov, Ministers of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeikov and Ministers of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoycheva.
2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and this is also an occasion to bring cooperation to the level of a strategic partnership, the MFA states.
A number of bilateral memoranda are expected to be signed during the visit.
Within the framework of the visit, the first meeting of the Joint Cooperation Commission (JCC), chaired by the ministers of foreign affairs of the two countries, will take place.
In 2018, within the framework of the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Sameh Shukri, to Bulgaria, the two countries signed an agreement to establish a Joint Commission for Cooperation, with the aim of setting an appropriate bilateral framework for agreeing on political guidelines for Bulgarian-Egyptian relations and control of the implementation of the cooperation agreements and programs concluded between the two countries. The SCS is chaired by the foreign ministers of both countries.
We remind you that at the end of January this year Maria Gabriel met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, at the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU countries in Brussels, Belgium. Then the two discussed the cooperation between Bulgaria and Egypt in areas such as innovation, renewable energy sources, hydrogen, food security, transport and tourism. Among the topics of discussion was the situation in the Middle East.
On February 7, the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria approved the agreement between Bulgaria and Egypt on maritime commercial shipping, which is expected to be signed by the Minister of Transport and Communications, Georgi Gvozdeikov, during today’s visit to Egypt. The new intergovernmental document replaces the current agreement from 1969 and will contribute to increasing transport and deepening cooperation between Bulgaria and Egypt.
The Council of Ministers also approved the agreement between Bulgaria and Egypt on mutual exemption from the requirements for holding visas for short-term residence of citizens with diplomatic and official passports. With the abolition of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and service passports, the aim is to give an impetus to the activation of political dialogue and business contacts between the two countries.
During Maria Gabriel’s visit, a meeting with the Bulgarian community is also expected.