The heads of the Saudi and Egyptian delegations to the preparatory meetings for the 15th round of the Saudi Egyptian joint committee which kicked off in Cairo earlier today reported that the meeting made a promising start. In statements following the meeting, Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Hagbani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce for foreign trade, who led the Saudi side to the meetings and Saeed Abdullah, First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the Commercial agreements sector, who led the Egyptian side, described the outcome of the first day of the meetings as positive, noting that the meeting augers well as regards augmenting the economic development rates between the Kingdom and Egypt amid the instructions of the leaderships of the two countries to upgrade the levels of coordination and investment. They denied the presence of any serious obstacles facing the Saudi investments in Egypt. They are rather individual customs-related problems usually taking place in the world trade and could easily be settled by officials in charge, they added. They noted that the trade size worth $4.4 in 2015 should be increased. Though good, but the trade exchange between the two countries is still lagging behind, Al-Hagbani said. He expressed hope to see solutions to the problems facing this endeavor during this round of talks in which 52 agents from the two countries are taking part. For his part, Abdullah disclosed that 15 agreements covering development and rehabilitation of Sinai, petroleum, commerce, industry, education, culture and information will be signed on the sidelines of the meetings.
