The visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Egypt, which he started, includes the signing of a number of economic deals and agreements, according to an Egyptian presidency statement.
Prince Mohammed arrived yesterday evening in Egypt at the beginning of a tour that will also take him to Jordan and Turkey. He was received at Cairo Airport by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
This tour comes based on the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and out of his keenness to communicate and strengthen relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and brotherly countries, in all fields, and in response to the invitations made to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to what was reported by Saudi Press Agency, “SPA”, releasing a statement by the Royal Court.
Prince Mohammed’s visit to Egypt is of great importance, especially in the current global economic changes, to coordinate on enhancing trade and economic cooperation that would help alleviate the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The Egyptian business community counts a lot on this visit in terms of strengthening economic and trade partnerships and increasing mutual investments.
The Egyptian-Saudi Business Council will receive a delegation of 30 Saudi businessmen accompanying Crown Prince Mohammed.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) aims to pump investments worth $10 billion during the coming period in government and private companies in cooperation with the Egyptian government, after the Cabinet approved last April the draft presidential decree, the agreement between Cairo and Riyadh to pump investments in healthcare, education, agriculture and financial sectors.
Observers believe that the visit will touch on pumping more Saudi investments and enhancing their performance in order to boost economic indicators.
Chairman of the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council
The head of the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council, Abdel Hamid Abu Mousa, revealed that Saudi investments in Egypt amount to $54 billion, distributed over 5,300 projects, reflecting on the magnitude of these investments. He noteed that it is not concentrated in one sector, but rather includes a large number of sectors, reflecting diversity.
He also revealed that it is expected that, today, a number of important agreements will be signed between the two countries with investments covering electricity, transportation, industry and agriculture in addition to other economic fields, as Egypt represents to Saudi Arabia a very huge market where over 100 million live.
He explained that Saudi Arabia has stood by Egypt in recent years, since the June 30 revolution, at all levels, up to the last deposits that were placed in the Central Bank of Egypt, amounting to $5 billion, in addition to about another $5 billion that will be geared to direct investments within a year’s time, which “represents great importance for the economy as hot money alone cannot support a real economy.”
In numbers
Data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in Egypt showed that the value of trade exchange between Egypt and Saudi Arabia increased to $9.1 billion last year, an increase of 62.1 percent, compared to 2020, when the value of trade exchange between the two countries amounted to $5.6 billion.
According to the data, the value of Egyptian exports to Saudi Arabia amounted to $2.2 billion in 2021, compared to $1.9 billion in 2020, an increase of 17.3 percent. While the value of Egyptian imports from Saudi Arabia amounted to $6.9 billion last year, compared to $3.7 billion in 2020, an increase of 84.5 percent.
A few days ago, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, based in Saudi Arabia, provided Egypt with $3 billion in financing to secure food and energy imports.
The value of remittances from Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia reached $11.2 billion during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, compared to $9.6 billion in the 2019-20 fiscal year, an increase of 17 percent. While the remittances of Saudis working in Egypt amounted to $18.5 million during the fiscal year 2020-2021, compared to $17.6 million during the fiscal year 2019-2020, an increase of 4.9 percent.
The value of Saudi investments in Egypt amounted to $622 million during the fiscal year 2020-2021, compared to $651.2 million during the fiscal year 2019-2020, a decrease of 4.5 percent.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is Egypt’s largest trading partner in the Middle East, as the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Saudi Arabia reached $4.3 billion last year, compared to $3.2 billion in 2020, an increase of 34%.
Egyptian exports to the Saudi market increased by 17% last year, reaching $1.99 billion, compared to $1.69 billion in 2020.
