CAIRO, May 23 (MENA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Expatriates Badr Abdelatty praised the notable progress in relations between Egypt and Bulgaria, noting that the two countries will celebrate the centenary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties next year.

This came during his meeting Thursday night with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev, held to support bilateral relations and consult on a range of regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Foreign ministry spokesman Tamim Khallaf said in a statement on Friday that Abdelatty expressed Egypt’s interest in organizing various events and activities to commemorate the centennial, voicing hope for convening the second session of the Joint Economic Cooperation Committee in Cairo during the second half of 2025, and the second session of the High Joint Cooperation Committee in Sofia, set to be co-chaired by the two foreign ministers, in the first half of 2026.

The spokesman added that the top diplomat commended the significant growth in trade and economic relations between Egypt and Bulgaria, highlighting the increase in bilateral trade volume to $1.8 billion in 2024 — a 50% rise from 2023. He pointed out that these figures show that Egypt has become Bulgaria's leading trade partner in the Middle East and Africa.

Minister Abdelatty stressed the importance of leveraging this momentum to attract further Bulgarian investments into Egypt and to position Egypt as a regional hub for Bulgarian companies.

In this context, he welcomed the convocation of the Egyptian-Bulgarian Business Forum yesterday, highlighting that it was attended by numerous companies and business leaders from both countries and emphasizing the importance of implementing its outcomes to advance mutual economic and trade interests.

The minister also expressed keen interest in increasing Bulgarian tourist traffic to Egypt and noted the valuable contribution of skilled Egyptian labor in the Bulgarian job market, the spokesman said.

The two ministers discussed enhancing parliamentary cooperation through the friendship groups in both countries’ parliaments, he added.

According to him, Abdelatty thanked Bulgaria for its official endorsement of the Egyptian candidate for the position of Director-General of UNESCO and voiced hope for continued Bulgarian support within the European Union, particularly regarding the expedited approval of the second tranche of concessional loans amounting to €4 billion.

On the regional front, the ministers exchanged views on several key issues, including developments in Gaza, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, and the security of the Red Sea.
(MENA)
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