Saudi minister: Egyptian-Saudi business council forms committee to remove impediments

CAIRO, Nov 27 (MENA) - Saudi Minister of Trade and Investment Majed bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi said a joint committee will be formed grouping Saudi and Egyptian businessmen, who are members in the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council, to hold meetings with Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr and Industry Minister Amr Nassar with the aim of removing impediments facing investors in both countries.

Addressing the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council in the presence of Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker, the Saudi minister termed relations between the two countries as "historical" and based on a powerful partnership.

He said the volume of trade exchange between the two countries hit dlrs 7.3 billion, while Saudi direct investments in Egypt exceeded dlrs 3.4 billion. He added that the number of Saudi companies in Egypt has reached 5,000.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FECC) Ahmed el Wakil said a plan is being prepared to upgrade the Saudi-Egyptian relations through cooperation between the two sides' trade federations.

He highlighted the process of activating cooperation in the small- and medium-sized projects between the two countries especially after a projected meeting between the two countries' federations set for December 18-19 in Aswan.

Wakil made it clear that Egypt has become more attractive to investments after the Cairo government introduced a package of financial, legislative and procedural measures, citing a reduction in the balance deficit to 9.5 percent and a rise in the foreign reserve to dlrs 44.4 billion, adding that such developments give confidence to Saudi investors.