Egypt hosted on Sunday the Saudi-Egyptian Business Council Forum as Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz visited the country to attend the first Arab-EU summit held in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The forum was chaired by Vice President of the Council Dr. Abdullah bin Mahfouz and Governor of Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt Abdel Hamid Abu Moussa, and attended by General Investment Authority (SAGIA) Governor Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman al-Omar, Chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) and the Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC) Sami al-Obeidi, President of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC) Ahmed al-Wakeel and top Egyptian and Saudi businessmen.
Wakeel said, in his inaugural speech, that the Kingdom ranked first in terms of Arab investments in Egypt, and that Saudi Arabia implemented more than 5,000 projects in the country. In return, Egyptian projects in Saudi Arabia grew to total 1,300 with investments exceeding USD2.5 billion.
He added that Saudi tourists represent more than 20 percent of Arab visitors to Egypt while the number of Egyptian workers in the Kingdom reached 1.8 million.
Further, more than half a million Saudis reside in Egypt.
As for Obeidi, he lauded Saudi-Egyptian ties and underpinned the necessity for progress in cooperation and trade exchange. A few months ago, there was a total of 4,996 Saudi companies in the country. That figure recently rose to 5,338, he continued.
Abu Moussa stated that Saudi Arabia is the number one investing state in Egypt, and that the number of Saudi firms are on the rise, which clearly shows the significant investment opportunities in Egypt.
Moreover, bin Mahfouz said that Saudi investments in Egypt are increasing on a yearly basis. In 2017, trade exchange was around USD6 billion, reaching USD8 billion in 2018, he added.
Omar also spoke at the forum, stressing that the Kingdom and Egypt share a vision amid a development movement in Egypt thanks to the new policies endorsed to lure foreign firms.
He added that the bilateral economic ties are huge but don’t meet the ambition of both parties.
