Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, and the Egyptian Premier, Dr. Ahmad Nazeef agreed in a session of talks held here today on setting up joint investment funds with a capital of $250 million and on enhancing commercial, investment and tourism cooperation between the two countries.
In a statement to reporters, the Egyptian Cabinet's Spokesman, Dr. Majdi Radhi pointed out that during the session they reviewed all topics of mutual interest particularly in the economic, commercial and investment fields.
He noted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest investors in Egypt, adding that there have also been various Egyptian investments in the Kingdom.
Chairmen of Investment Commissions in the two countries will hold periodical meetings to discuss aspects of investment cooperation between the Kingdom and Egypt, Dr. Radhi said.
There are promising opportunities before Saudi investors in Egypt in the coming period, the spokesman quoted the Egyptian Minister of Investment as saying, citing numerous fields for investment including tourism, real estate, rehabilitation, construction and capital market.
The two parties confirmed their determination to boost the investment file between the two countries and work for facilitating investment procedures for businessmen in the two countries and encouraging them to enter into joint ventures.
On his part, Eng. Rasheed Mohammed Rasheed, the Minister of Industry and External Trade of Egypt told the joint meeting that the two sides have eliminated all tariff and administrative obstacles hindering the trade traffic between the two countries.
This effort culminated in increasing the trade exchange size between the two countries by 60 percent over the last few months, the minister said, adding that the trade exchange value between the two countries stood at $1billion annually.
He said the meeting tackled the situations of the Egyptian community and labor force in Saudi Arabia, emphasizing that Egyptians in Saudi Arabia enjoy every respect and face no serious problems.
He said the authorities are determined to overcome any problem Egyptians might face during their stay in the Saudi territories.
He added that tourism was one of the important issues discussed at the talks.
The spokesman said that oil and natural gas was one of the basic issues tackled by the talks. It was agreed to implement more cooperation programs between the two countries in this field.
He stated that the Saudi and Egyptian sides agreed on establishing mutual investment funds in many fields between the two countries. The most important among them is the establishment of a mutual fund for industrial investments with $250 million investments to help Egyptian and Saudi investors to choose investment projects accurately and clearly.
He said that it was also agreed to promote more visits and contacts between the officials and businessmen in the two countries in the coming days to implement the mutual cooperation programs.
