Minister of Commerce and acting Minister of Media of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi met here Monday with a number of Egyptian ministers and senior officials. He met separately with Dr. Hala El-Said, minister of Planning and Economic Development, Hisham Tawfik, minister of the Public Business Sector, and Counselor Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, head of the General Authority of Free Zones and Investment (GAFI). During the meetings trade, economic and investment cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt and ways to ensure an increase in trade and investment rates between the two countries were discussed. In the presence of the Saudi Ambassador Osama Bin Ahmed Nugali and the head of Saudi side in the Saudi Egyptian Joint Business Council Bandar Al-Amiri, Dr. Al-Qasabi honored the Egyptian ministers and officials in recognition of their roles in promoting the Saudi Egyptian trade and investment exchanges. Dr. Al-Qasabi called on Saudi as well as Egyptian investors to take advantage of opportunities furnished by the two countries' economies. Addressing the Saudi-Egyptian Business Council session held earlier, he explained that the challenges lying ahead, are not on the regional stage only, but are also on the world stage, due to the coronavirus outbreak and its economic fallouts. These challenges, he elaborated, made it exigent on the governments to double their efforts exerted to continue with overture, in order to lay the ground for appropriate commercial and investing environment for the investors taking advantage of the recovery and the expansion the world markets are experiencing. Al-Qasabi, head of the Saudi side to the meetings of the 17th session of the Joint Saudi-Egyptian Council, pointed out that the bilateral volume of trade reached as much as $8 billion, a 15% decrease compared to 2019, due to the pandemic impacts. The Kingdom is the second largest investor in Egypt, with a toll of over $6 billion, while Egypt, for its part, was the second largest country in obtaining investment licenses, in the Kingdom in 2020, with as many as 160 licenses secured and a $1.4 billion, in terms of investments, by the end of 2020. He concluded by lauding the role played by the private sectors, in the two countries, pointing to them as pivotal partners in realizing development plans and projects, as well. Dr. Al-Qasabi to take part in AIMC meet in Cairo Dr. Al-Qasabi, meanwhile, is scheduled to take part in the Executive Office 13th meeting of Arab Information Ministers Council here on Tuesday which will be chaired by Iraq. To highlight the event, the Assistant Secretary General and Supervisor of the Media and Communication Sector of the Arab League Ahmed Rashid Khattabi explained that the meeting will discuss the Council of Arab Information Ministers 51st session's agenda which is set to focus on the Palestinian cause. — SPA
