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Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Tuesday and announced that Egypt is preparing $5 billion in new investment from Saudi Arabia. He called for easing tensions in the region.
Sisi’s office said they reiterated their calls for de-escalation and a ceasefire in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, saying that “any attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause is intended to perpetuate the conflict in the region.” “There is,” he warned.
They also witnessed the establishment of a high-level Saudi-Egyptian Coordination Council and the “signing of an agreement to encourage and protect mutual investment” after months of attempts on the Egyptian side to draw in Saudi investors. .
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly’s office said last month that the crown prince had instructed the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund to “inject $5 billion into investments in Egypt as an initial step.”
Madbouly hinted at this week’s cabinet meeting that the government will announce “important news” regarding the long-delayed privatization of “banks and airports,” according to a cabinet statement.
Saudi investment is key to crisis-hit Egypt’s plan to privatize state holdings, with the Egyptian pound depreciating by two-thirds in two years as Cairo struggles to emerge from its worst economic crisis in history. lost its value.
Earlier this year, Egypt received more than $50 billion in loans and investment deals from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Arab Emirates and others.
Abu Dhabi alone has committed $35 billion to a land development deal in Egypt’s Ras Al Hikma on the Mediterranean coast.
This was followed by reports of a similar but smaller Saudi investment deal to develop Ras Ghamira on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, as well as investor interest in the country’s tourism, energy and banking sectors.
However, the agreement has been slow to come to fruition amid reported transparency issues and the Cairo government’s efforts to create a favorable investment environment.
Madbouly said last month that of the approximately “90 problems” facing Saudi investors in the North African country, only “14 problems” remained.
Bar/DCP
