The minister said that Egypt and Saudi Arabia have stable bilateral relations based on a long history of distinguished relations between the leadership of the two countries and the fraternal bonding between the two brotherly peoples, pointing to the importance of enhancing joint efforts to take advantage of the distinguished trade and investment opportunities available in the two countries and translate them into concrete cooperation projects that benefit the Egyptian and Saudi economies alike.
“Al-Khatib added that Egypt has all the capabilities and ingredients that qualify it to attract more Saudi investments, which include the availability of qualified labor and highly qualified engineers, as well as competitive wages, qualified infrastructure, availability of energy, availability of industrial land, raw materials, in addition to its association with a large number of free and preferential trade agreements with a large number of countries and major economic blocs in the world, which enables the Egyptian product to freely access and compete in a large number of regional and global markets.
The minister pointed out that the agreement on the promotion and protection of mutual investments between Egypt and Saudi Arabia represents the cornerstone for enhancing joint investment cooperation, improving the investment environment in Egypt and enhancing the attractiveness of the Egyptian market to Saudi investments, pointing out the importance of benefiting Saudi investors from the distinguished investment opportunities in the Egyptian market in various productive and service sectors.
“Al-Khatib” pointed to the government’s keenness to create a business climate and encourage investment by developing the infrastructure necessary for investment and facilitating the import of raw materials necessary for industry, noting that work is underway to raise the competitiveness of trade, protect industry and investment in accordance with internationally agreed measures in this regard.
The minister pointed out that there are distinct opportunities to enhance investment cooperation between the two countries by entering into investment partnerships that contribute to meeting the needs of the two countries and exporting to the markets with which Egypt and Saudi Arabia are linked by free trade agreements, pointing to the importance of joint work to achieve integration in production processes, especially renewable energy projects, which is of utmost importance for Egypt, especially as there are opportunities to export energy to a large number of markets, especially the EU markets.
Al-Khatib pointed out the importance of the two sides identifying the sectors and products that are imported in the two countries and studying the injection of investments whether in Egypt or the kingdom in order to achieve industrial integration to provide those products to local markets as well as export production surpluses, pointing out that within the framework of the ministry’s interest in Saudi investments, an official has been appointed at the General Authority for investment and free zones to provide all aspects of support to Saudi investors.
For his part, Mr. Bandar Al-khorayef, Saudi minister of industry and Mineral Resources, stressed the depth and history of bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries, pointing to the importance of the investment promotion and protection agreement signed between the two countries in strengthening joint investment relations during the next stage.
He added that a group of industrial sectors targeted to achieve industrial integration between the Kingdom and Egypt have been identified, pointing out that the mining field is receiving attention from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and has huge investments in this field.
The meeting was attended by Mr. Saleh bin Eid al-Husseini, Saudi ambassador to Cairo, Mr. Hossam Heiba, chairman of the General Authority for investment and free zones, Minister of Trade Commissioner Yahya Al-watheeb, head of Trade Representation, Dr. Amani Al-Wasal, head of the agreements and foreign trade sector, and Mr. Juma Madani, Head of the Central Department of trade agreements
