President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Arab Republic of Egypt Al-Sayed Mahmoud Al-Sherif.

Welcoming members of the delegation, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- You are welcome to Azerbaijan, greetings! We are very pleased with your participation in the summit. I am glad that your country is represented at this event at a high level. Of course, your visit creates a good opportunity for us to talk about bilateral relations. Our bilateral relations are also successfully developing and covering many areas. Your country was also represented at a high level at the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Baku recently, and we highly appreciate your country's position in the adoption of the Final Declaration. As you know, in the next three years, Azerbaijan will chair the Movement and we take this commitment with great responsibility. As for our ties in the economic sphere, I can say that there is great potential in this area. Given our good political ties, I believe that we must give a very serious signal to business entities in the economic sphere, so that they further expand their activities. I am glad that good progress has also been made in the tourism sector. Azerbaijani tourists are visiting your country and the number of visitors to Azerbaijan from Egypt is also growing. Of course, inter-parliamentary relations are also in the spotlight. I am sure that during the visit these relations will receive a further impetus.

The First Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Al-Sayed Mahmoud Al-Sherif, said:

- In the name of Allah, the Merciful and the Compassionate. Dear Mr. President, please allow me to express my gratitude to you on my own behalf and on behalf of my colleagues for taking the time to receive us. We express our deep appreciation to the whole people of Azerbaijan for their hospitality and responsiveness. Allow me, on behalf of the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, and on behalf of the people of Egypt to convey to you and the people of Azerbaijan our deep respect and appreciation. Personally I want to say that I am a very happy person because I met with national leader Heydar Aliyev in Egypt in 1994. And today I am very happy because I am meeting with the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev. Of course, the successes achieved by Azerbaijan in all areas in recent years, both from an economic and infrastructural point of view and in terms of the development of all areas are an example for other states of the world.

Х Х Х

President Ilham Aliyev asked the First Deputy Speaker to extend his greetings to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.

First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Arab Republic of Egypt Al-Sayed Mahmoud Al-Sherif noted that his country supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan based on the norms and principles of international law.

The sides exchanged views on successful cooperation between the two countries within international organizations and a number of other issues.