BILATERAL relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt enjoy a prestigious status on the Arab, Islamic and international arenas thanks to the historic ties that date back to the period of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia and King Farouk of Egypt. On the political front, Riyadh and Cairo shoulder the great responsibility of achieving Arab unity and solidarity through playing their key leadership role in a way serving the broader interests of the Arab peoples stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Gulf. On the economic front, the two great Arab nations have established deep-rooted trade ties and the Kingdom has pumped billions of riyals in investments into Egypt. According to a report carried by the Saudi Press Agency, the deep-rooted ties between the two countries date back to the signing of the Treaty of Friendship between the two countries in 1926 and since then it continued witnessing a robust growth. The first meeting between King Abdulaziz and King Farouk in 1945 at Mount Radhwa, located northwest of the Kingdom, was a great milestone in this respect. The historic meeting was instrumental in laying the foundation for strong bilateral relations. This was followed by the visit of King Abdulaziz to Egypt in 1946 during which it was proved that King Abdulaziz and King Farouk shared identical views concerning the Arab League. During the visit, King Abdulaziz agreed on Alexandria Protocol, and he accorded final approval for the Kingdom's accession into the Arab League. King Abdulaziz had clearly realized the strategic importance of the Egyptian-Saudi relations, and it was crystal clear in his famous saying: "Arabs are indispensable for Egypt and Egypt is indispensable for Arabs." This was obvious with the signing of a series of landmark agreements that have cemented the relations. A reconstruction agreement was signed in Riyadh in1939, under which Egypt had accomplished certain construction projects in the Kingdom. The Kingdom had supported Egypt's demands for the withdrawal of British troops from the Egyptian territory, and stood beside it at the Arab League, the United Nations and all the international forums in this respect. On the economic front, trade relations between the two countries have multiplied several times during 1980s and 90s as well as the first four years of 21st century when the Saudi investments ranked first among Arab countries investing in Egypt, and ranked second at the level of global investments, worth more than 71 billion Egyptian pounds. The volume of investments that the Kingdom pumped into Egypt amounted to $5,777 billion with a total of 3,057 companies from 1970 till the end of 2013 in the sectors of industry, construction, tourism, financing, agriculture, service, and communications and information technology.
