Egypt’s Sisi to meet Russian Federation Council chairwoman in Cairo Saturday

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is scheduled to meet with chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko Saturday in Cairo’s Ittihadiya presidential palace, state news agency MENA reported.

Matviyenko arrived in Egypt Friday along with a delegation from the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s Federal Assembly.

The meeting will discuss ways to boost cooperation between Egypt and Russia in various fields in the upcoming period, MENA added.

It will also include touch on the latest developments in regional crises, as well as possible solutions.

In February, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that Matviyenko and her delegation would mainly discuss resuming air flights between Russia and Egypt.

Egypt is in talks with Russia to resume flights to its popular Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, over a year since the bombing of a Russian passenger jet that killed all 224 on board and prompted a suspension of Russian air traffic.

Nearly three million Russians, out of 9.6 million tourists of all nationalities, visited Egypt in 2014, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism.

Egyptian tourism, a pillar of the country's economy and a key source of hard currency, has taken a blow since the passenger plane crash. The economy of Sinai's Sharm El-Sheikh is believed to have suffered the most.

Egypt’s revenues from tourism dropped from $6.1 billion in 2015 to $3.4 billion in 2016, according to statements made by Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer

Source: Ahram online