Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Tuesday that Russia had agreed to jointly build his country’s first nuclear power plant.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Tuesday that Russia had agreed to jointly build his country's first nuclear power plant.

A memorandum of understanding was signed Tuesday in the presence of Sisi and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At a joint press conference with Putin, Sisi said the nuclear power plant would be built in Dabaa in northwest Egypt on the Mediterranean coast.

Egypt had laid the foundation for such a facility in Dabaa during the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, but work was halted due to disputes with local residents.

Putin is visiting the Arab nation for the first time in almost a decade, although he’s already met Sisi twice since the military took power from the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammad Mursi in 2013 and was elected as Egypt’s new head in 2014.

Economic ties are expected to dominate Putin’s trip. He heads a delegation of minister-level officials dealing with trade, agriculture, energy, investment and nuclear power. Last year saw a rebound of trade between Russia and Egypt from a sharp drop in 2013 and reached over $4.6 billion.

"The leaders will pay special attention to ramping up trade and economic ties between the two countries," the Kremlin said ahead of the visit.

After brief talks at the airport on Monday, the two leaders attended a concert at the Opera House before dining in the capital's landmark Cairo Tower.

On Tuesday, they held formal talks at a presidential palace.

Received with a guard of honor and a 21-gun salute, posters of the Russian leader were plastered on Cairo's main roads greeting him in Russia, Arabic and English.