RIYADH — Egypt's Prime Minister Dr. Mustafa Madbouli received Saudi Arabia's Commerce Minister Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi, the head of a Saudi trade delegation that includes about 90 senior businessmen and leaders of major national companies. During the meeting, which was attended by Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Egypt Osama Nuqali, Dr. Al-Qasabi discussed ways of enhancing the Saudi-Egyptian economic and commercial partnership. The Saudi minister also met with Egypt's Minister of Trade and Industry Eng. Ahmed Samir, Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, and Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Dr. Assem El-Gazzar, in addition to the CEO of Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free Zones Hossam Heiba. The meetings touched on the efforts of advancing the levels of bilateral trade exchange in light of the economic reforms implemented by the two countries. Furthermore, the ministers discussed developing the two sides' trade with the countries of the African continent, and enhancing their economic integration to support plans to transform the region into a global logistics hub. Dr. Al-Qasabi touched during the meeting on the promising opportunities in several vital sectors in line with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, encouraging the establishment of joint projects and removing the obstacles that they might face. Moreover, he discussed the facilities provided for business establishments in free zones, and enhanced cooperation in programs to support the transformation toward business digitization in small and medium enterprises. Dr. Al-Qasabi is scheduled to hold two separate meetings on Monday with Dr. Heba Shaheen, Executive Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Business Climate Reform "Irada", and Seif Allah Fahmy, th Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council. During the meeting, several matters will be discussed, including the Saudi competitiveness model, legislative and regulatory reforms and their impact on developing the business environment, as well as the results achieved in global indicators reports. Bilateral cooperation to benefit from the Kingdom's experience, expertise and qualitative knowledge in various fields of competitiveness will be also discussed. The Saudi delegation will participate on Monday in the Saudi-Egyptian Business Forum, which is organized by the National Competitiveness Center in cooperation with the Federation of Saudi Chambers, the General Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, and the Saudi-Egyptian Business Council. The forum aims to review economic reforms, its impact on developing and improving the business environment, increasing the attractiveness and ease of starting and practicing economic activities, and enhancing the partnership between the business sectors of the two countries.
