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Johannesburg - Egypt and South Africa have agreed to improve trade and investment between the two countries during a working visit to Cairo by President Jacob Zuma.
"We... discussed and agreed to accelerate trade and investment by urging our respective business sectors to utilise the many opportunities that our countries have to offer," Zuma said in a statement on Friday.
"In addition, the formation of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement and the development of the North-South corridor will boost regional economic integration."
He said the countries also agreed to partner on infrastructure development.
Zuma arrived back in South Africa on Friday.
Egypt and South Africa also agreed to revitalise bilateral relations given the common challenges the two face, the president said.
"We have agreed to reconvene, as a matter of priority, the South Africa-Egypt joint bilateral commission with the aim of consolidating areas of co-operation and to identify new areas of collaboration.
"It is imperative that existing bilateral agreements are implemented and that progress in the implementation of these agreements is regularly reported on in the bilateral commission.”
Zuma and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi reviewed the peace and security situation in the Middle East and North Africa.
The two agreed that a political solution urgently needed to be found for the crisis facing Africa, and regional organisations such as the African Union and the Arab League had an important role to play.
On the multilateral front, both agreed that global institutions such as the United Nations and the UN Security Council had to be reformed.
"South Africa and Egypt agreed to engage on the matter of UN reform in line with Africa's position...,” said Zuma.
