by Mahmoud Fouly, Abdel-Maguid Kamal
CAIRO, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The recent Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation signed by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is likely to take the Egyptian-Russian growing ties to a higher level.
The signing ceremony took place on Wednesday in Russia's Sochi after talks between the two leaders.
They discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern including the situations in war-torn Syria and Libya as well as the resumption of Russian direct flights to some Egyptian Red Sea resort cities such as Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.
In a joint press conference after signing the deal, Putin highlighted the growing economic cooperation between the two countries, citing several Russian ongoing and future investments and projects in Egypt.
Russia's establishment of Egypt's first nuclear power plant which is currently in the preparation stage is on the top list.
He added that Moscow has already resumed direct flights to Cairo in April and the resumption of flights to other Egyptian cities will be "soon."
Russia's flight suspension to Egypt started after a Russian plane crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, which killed all 224 people on board, mostly Russians.
The crash was later claimed by the Islamic State.
"The signing of a comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation agreement is a very important step, as it will lead to a breakthrough in some issues like the return of Russian tourism to Egypt," said Atef Saadawi, an expert at Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS).
"The deal represents an important development in relations between Cairo and Moscow and I believe there will be more military cooperation between the two sides as well," the expert told Xinhua.
Sisi described the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation deal as "a new chapter" of the Egyptian-Russian cooperation.
The Egyptian president noted that he acquainted Putin with Egypt's vision on a political settlement in Libya and Cairo's efforts to unite Libya's military to perform its duties efficiently.
He pointed out that Libya's stability is a matter of national security to Egypt, as most militants used to infiltrate in both directions through Libya's eastern borders with Egypt's Western Desert.
"As for the Syrian issue, where Russia plays a big role, Egypt tries to play a role that guarantees the integrity and unity of Syrian territories," said the ACPSS expert.
It is Sisi's fourth visit to Russia, as he made his first as defense minister in 2014 before he was elected president in the same year. It is also the ninth meeting between Sisi and Putin in this period, according to Egypt's State Information Service.
Putin visited Cairo in December 2017 when he and Sisi witnessed the signing of the agreement to build Egypt's nuclear power station.
The Russian president said on Wednesday that trade exchange between the two countries increased to 6.7 billion U.S. dollars last year, with a 20 percent rise in the first eight months of the current year.
He added that Russia signed a deal worth of 1.3 billion euros (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) with Egypt in September to provide 1,300 passenger cars for the Egyptian railway authority.
Russia is also planning to build a vast industrial zone in Egypt's Suez Canal region particularly in the east of Port Said province, which is expected to bring about seven billion U.S. dollars in investment and provide 35,000 job opportunities.
"Egyptian-Russian comprehensive partnership agreement comes amid key development of the course of their bilateral relations that haven't been seen since late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser," said Tarek Fahmy, political science professor at Cairo University.
Fahmy stressed that Russia's keenness "to take ties with Egypt to another level" due to Egypt's major regional influence.
The agreement is expected to positively reflect on Egyptian economy, according to Fahmy, who believes that it will lead to the establishment of new institutions to implement its mechanisms, as well as the development of economic and investment structures to serve the deal.
"The comprehensive deal includes all economic and political issues and it represents an important stage of the development of bilateral relations between Egypt and Russia," the professor told Xinhua.
