Egypt is the second-largest economy in Africa, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 380 billion USD, per capita GDP of 3,540 USD, and a growth rate of 2.7%.
Despite facing numerous challenges, Egypt leverages its strengths as a diversified economy with a large market and multiple free trade agreements (FTAs). The country is actively implementing economic reforms, promoting exports, attracting investment, and seeking international financial support.
Currently, Egypt is focused on improving living standards, social equity, economic diversification (including in the private sector), sustainable development, infrastructure, innovation, digital transformation, and governance and institutional reform.
Egypt has emerged as one of Viet Nam’s key partners in Africa. Currently, Viet Nam has one enterprise investing in Egypt with total capital of approximately 30 million USD, and a garment company engaged in a joint venture with an Egyptian firm.
The State Bank of Viet Nam signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt in July 2023. By the end of 2024, Vietnamese commercial banks had established 46 correspondent banking relationships with Egyptian banks, with bilateral payment and remittance volumes reaching around 235 million USD, the highest in the African region.
Viet Nam and Egypt can serve as strategic bridges between ASEAN and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions
Viet Nam can seek investment cooperation opportunities, effectively tapping into Egypt’s market of 115 million people, as well as accessing vast markets such as Europe, Africa, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) through Egypt.
Egypt prioritises expanding trade and investment cooperation with Viet Nam and welcomes Vietnamese enterprises transferring technology and know-how, boosting cooperation to capitalise on investment incentives and opportunities in Egypt.
Both sides are striving to enhance comprehensive cooperation, particularly in economics, trade, investment, and tourism, while also promoting new scopes of collaboration.
Viet Nam and Egypt can serve as strategic bridges between ASEAN and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions, especially in multilateral diplomacy, trade, investment, infrastructure connectivity, logistics, culture, education, and tourism.
Viet Nam is a member of ASEAN, while Egypt is a key country in the MENA region. Both regions hold strategic importance in global economic, political, and security affairs. They are developing economies with needs for cooperation in trade, investment, agricultural development, industry, energy, and digital transformation.
Therefore, Viet Nam can access the MENA market through Egypt’s strategic location at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, while Egypt can regard Viet Nam as a gateway to export goods to the vast ASEAN market.
Within the BRICS framework, the connecting role of Viet Nam and Egypt can be viewed as a new strategic direction, particularly as BRICS expands its influence and seeks cooperation partners beyond the original group.
Viet Nam has been a BRICS partner country since June 2025, committing to promote alignment between the BRICS programme and other multilateral mechanisms, aiming for sustainable development and South-South cooperation.
Meanwhile, Egypt has been an official BRICS member since 2024 and regularly participates in and facilitates Viet Nam’s expanded cooperation through BRICS+ and inter-regional initiatives such as ASEAN-BRICS-MENA.
Within the BRICS framework, the connecting role of Viet Nam and Egypt can be viewed as a new strategic direction, particularly as BRICS expands its influence and seeks cooperation partners beyond the original group.
As such, Egypt can represent MENA’s interests in BRICS, promoting investment, finance, and energy initiatives between BRICS and MENA, while Viet Nam, with its increasingly prominent role in ASEAN, can create a bridge between BRICS and ASEAN, jointly establishing a BRICS–ASEAN–MENA inter-regional cooperation corridor.
