Saudi Gazette report

CAIRO — Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman held wide ranging talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on Tuesday.

During their meeting, the Crown Prince and El-Sisi discussed ways to further strengthen fraternal relations and other issues of common interest, especially the latest developments in the region.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of the minutes to create the Saudi-Egyptian Supreme Coordination Council and the agreement to promote and protect mutual investments between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Delegations from both the countries also attended the expanded discussion session that focused on enhancing joint investment and developing trade exchange between the two countries.

The Crown Prince's visit, which came in line with the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, is expected to boost joint investments in vital sectors. It is noteworthy that the foreign direct investments pumped by Saudi Arabia into the Egyptian economy over the past 10 years amounted to about $6.1 billion, according to data from the Central Bank of Egypt.

The last fiscal year of 2022-23 witnessed huge pumping of Saudi investments into Egypt, reaching about $2.4 billion, an increase of 390 percent compared to the previous year, representing 10 percent of global investments in the same year, which amounted to $23 billion.

During the first 9 months of the fiscal year 2023/2024, the flow of foreign investments from Saudi Arabia to Egypt amounted to $511.3 million. In light of these huge inflows, the volume of cumulative Saudi investments in Egypt reached about $34 billion, through 6,830 companies.

Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, and Egypt, the third economy, have historical relations that have always been reflected in the positions of the two countries, as the value of Saudi financial deposits with the Central Bank of Egypt amounts to $10.3 billion, according to data from the bank.