Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Saturday that his “constructive” discussion with his Tunisian counterpart Kais Saeid dealt with a large number of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest, reflecting a common will to strengthen the “distinguished” relations between the two countries and upgrading them in various areas to wider horizons.

This, El-Sisi saeid, comes through the activation of cooperation frameworks and mechanisms of consultation and coordination between the two countries at all levels, whether with regard to bilateral issues or regional and international issues of common interest.

The Egyptian president’s remarks came during a joint press conference, held in Cairo on Saturday, with the Tunisian president, who arrived in Egypt on Friday for his first visit since he assumed office in October 2019.

Earlier on Saturday, Saeid was welcomed by El-Sisi in an official reception ceremony upon his arrival at the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in Cairo.

The discussion contributed to strengthening the ties between the two brotherly countries and peoples, El-Sisi saeid, taking into account the common challenges facing Egypt and Tunisia, foremost among which are achieving comprehensive development, confronting negative interference in the region, preventing the undermining of the nation state, and combating terrorism and extremist ideology.

The Tunisian president affirmed his country's pride in the close and distinguished relations with Egypt at the official and popular levels, praising the achievements Egypt has made during the past years at the domestic level in terms of security, stability and development.

El-Sisi said that the meeting reflected the convergence of views between the two countries on all issues, and that the mutual efforts to enhance cooperation in economic fields have also received special attention in today’s discussions.

“I emphasised Egypt's readiness to develop this cooperation in a way that achieves development goals in the two countries, whether at the level of trade or investment exchange, which we hope will rise to the level of the distinguished political relations between us,” he said.

El-Sisi also revealed that he and Saeid tackled the developments in the Libyan crisis, stressing the need to activate the role of Arab countries in this crisis, and welcomed the recent formation of the executive authority in Libya.

“We [El-Sisi and Saeid] affirmed our readiness to provide all forms of support to [the Libyan executive authority] in order to enable it to fulfil its role in managing the transitional phase, to hold elections as scheduled at the end of this year, to end foreign interference and to remove all foreign forces, mercenaries and foreign terrorists from Libya in a manner that guarantees its restoration of its full and desired stability and preserves its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” El-Sisi said.

El-Sisi and Saeid also stressed the importance of continuing Arab efforts to support the Palestinian cause, and the necessity of exerting efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

El-Sisi also saeid that the issue of Egyptian water security was addressed during the discussions given that it is part of Arab national security, stressing the need to preserve Egypt's water rights.

For his part, the Tunisian president saeid he valued the efforts made by Egypt to reach a fair and comprehensive agreement over the rules for filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, El-Sisi noted.

The two leaders also discussed prospects for joint action in the African arena and how to support African action in light of the important role that Egypt and Tunisia play in this regard.

El-Sisi applauded the role Tunisia is playing as the Arab member of the UN Security Council, and the efforts it exerts to support Arab causes.