Cairo – EXCLUSIVE (Masaader News) – Eman Hamad
There was a state of anticipation after the announcement of the Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia invited by Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz after a tense relations between the two countries recently, due to the issue of demarcation of borders and the Egyptian position on the Syrian issue.
The kingdom has suspended oil subsidies to Egypt, and delivery of the Saudi Aramco products was halted as of Oct. 1 2016 though the reason remains unclear, a trader that deals with the EGPC told Reuters.
This came after Egypt voted in favor of a Russian-backed UN Security Council resolution on Syria in October excluding calls to halt the bombing of Aleppo, which Saudi Arabia strongly opposed.
Egypt’s former foreign minister, Mohamed al-urabi, said the visit of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Saudi Arabia was a strong start to a new phase in the common relations.
“Each country has its specificities and relations with the international community according to its vision and interests, and the different visions and directions do not spoil the relationship between the two countries and do not affect the security of Egypt or the Kingdom, especially since the two countries are the main engine of joint Arab action.” Al-urabi added.
In January 2017, the Supreme Administrative Court in Egypt issued a final a judgment of the Invalidation of the agreement of demarcating the maritime border with Saudi Arabia, which included transferring the dependency of the islands Tiran and Sanafir in the Red Sea to the Kingdom. Then, earlier this month, the Cairo Court of the urgent matters of Egypt, Transfer the dependency of Tiran and Sanafir islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia through a new judgment .
Economic relations
In February, four Egyptian companies suspended work on housing agreements with the Saudi government amid strained relations between the two countries.
Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Tariq Qabeel said that the visit of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Saudi Arabia paves the way for boosting economic and trade relations between Egypt and the Kingdom towards wider horizons, according to a press release received by Massader.
“The visit reflects the depth of the strategic relations between the two brotherly countries and represents a tremendous impetus for the promotion of joint economic and trade relations,” Qabeel added, referring to the importance of the role played by the private sector on both sides to achieve the desired development through partnership and investment in joint projects that benefit the two countries. Has a great responsibility for the two Governments to provide ways to consolidate and develop such a partnership and pave the way for them and remove procedural obstacles.
“The volume of trade exchange between the two countries last year reached $ 4,279 billion. The Kingdom ranks first in the list of Arab countries investing in the Egyptian market with total investments exceeding $ 6 billion in 3 thousand and 421 projects. The Egyptian investments in the Saudi market are about $ 2.5 billion in 1300 projects in the sectors of contracting, telecommunications, healthcare and manufacturing, ” Qabeel explained.