CAIRO, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday in the Uzbek capital Tashkent to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a dialogue partner, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in a statement.
The MoU was signed by SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming and Egypt's Deputy Foreign Minister for African Affairs Hamdi Sanad Loza, ahead of the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO.
Egypt's accession to the organization as a dialogue partner is an important step towards strengthening cooperation with group members in a number of fields such as trade, investment, energy, transportation and tourism, the Egyptian deputy foreign minister said during his meeting with Zhang, according to the statement.
He added that it is also a step towards "supporting regional security and stability."
Zhang welcomed Egypt as a dialogue partner, expressing the organization's aspiration for fruitful cooperation with Egypt in the coming stage. ■