Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed on Wednesday during his meeting with Malian Foreign Minister Zeini Moulaye the specificity of the distinguished bilateral relations that bind Egypt to its sister Mali.

During the meeting, which was attended by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, El-Sisi expressed Egypt’s keenness to help restore stability in Mali, especially in light of its location in the African Sahel region, which is extremely important to regional security as a whole.

In a statement by the Egyptian Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady, the president highlighted Egypt's interest in strengthening mutual cooperation with Mali in various fields, especially in infrastructure projects and pharmaceutical industries, as well as capacity-building and providing technical support to financial cadres.

Rady added that El-Sisi and Moulaye also discussed cooperation in the field of combating terrorism and extremist ideology, and joint security and military coordination.

El-Sisi requested that his greetings be conveyed to Malian President Bah Ndaw, who was sworn into office in September 2020, tasked with presiding over an 18-month transition back to civilian rule.

From his side, Rady said, Moulaye conveyed to El-Sisi a message from Ndaw that included praise of the continuous development in the course of bilateral relations.

The Malian top diplomat, the statement said, stressed his country's deep appreciation to Egypt, its people, and its leadership for the efforts made to achieve its aspirations for development, in addition to the political will and the clear vision pursued by Egypt towards advancing joint African action efforts.

Moulaye expressed his country's appreciation for the great and influential Egyptian contributions to the work of the UN forces in Mali, Rady noted.

The Malian minister praised the role of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, in enhancing cultural ties between the two countries by spreading the tolerant teachings of Islam and confronting extremist ideas.

He stressed that there are broad horizons for developing the relations and pushing forward the frameworks of joint cooperation between the two brotherly countries in various fields, Rady added.