Cairo: EgyPulse – News Desk
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with Majid Al-kassabi, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce, where he expressed deep appreciation for the Minister’s role in advancing the strategic partnership between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He praised the strong coordination between the Saudi Ministry and Egypt’s Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade in promoting economic and investment collaboration.
Both sides highlighted the importance of capitalizing on the growing momentum in bilateral economic relations. Saudi Arabia is Egypt’s second-largest global trading partner and its largest within the Arab world. The volume of trade between the two nations has seen consistent growth, reflecting converging economic interests. Abdelatty expressed Egypt’s aspiration to further double trade volume and expand cooperation between the two countries’ business sectors, particularly in areas such as innovation, technology, startups, and digital applications.
The Minister underscored the importance of increasing Saudi direct investments in Egypt, especially in key sectors such as supply chains, manufacturing, technology localization, services trade, and transit industries. He emphasized Egypt’s strategic position as a gateway to African markets and its preferential trade agreements with the European Union and regional blocs.
Discussions also focused on integrating both countries’ efforts to explore new markets, particularly across the African continent. Dr. Abdelatty outlined Egypt’s recent economic and legislative reforms to improve the investment climate, including the National Investment Strategy 2024–2030. He reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to removing any barriers facing Saudi investors and to offering a competitive and sustainable investment environment, in line with presidential directives to enhance cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to continued coordination and institutional cooperation to further consolidate the Egyptian-Saudi economic partnership. On the same day, Minister Abdelatty also held talks with Mr. Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources. The meeting aimed to bolster industrial and investment cooperation between the two countries.
Dr. Abdelatty lauded the Kingdom’s strides in economic and industrial development under Saudi Vision 2030, noting the transformative progress in the Saudi industrial sector. He stressed the importance of accelerating joint economic and industrial integration projects that align with the strategic interests of both nations. The two ministers agreed on the need to intensify cooperation in several priority sectors, including: mining, automotive industry, pharmaceuticals, food processing, renewable energy, and water desalination and treatment.
Minister Abdelatty also expressed eagerness to attract more Saudi investments into Egypt’s industrial sector. He cited recent efforts to facilitate Saudi capital inflows, referencing the August visit by Egypt’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Transport, which led to agreements in fields such as petrochemicals, medical raw materials, electronics, telecommunications, and electric vehicles.
The meeting also reviewed the “Protection and Encouragement of Mutual Investments” agreement signed during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Cairo on 15 October 2025. The agreement is expected to enhance investor confidence and boost industrial cooperation between the two nations.
Abdelatty presented Egypt’s key investment incentives, including the “Golden License”, the unification of the exchange rate, and the facilitation of profit transfers in hard currency. He highlighted opportunities in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, petrochemicals, food and beverages, and construction materials.
He also outlined Egypt’s national strategy to localize manufacturing industries, particularly in the transportation sector, as part of the country’s broader vision to become a regional industrial hub. Both ministers emphasized the need to deepen the investment partnership in oil, gas, mining, and petrochemicals, and to strengthen the countries’ roles as key regional players in the energy and industrial sectors. Joint efforts to expand into African markets were also highlighted.
Abdelatty concluded by presenting the objectives of Egypt’s 2030 Industrial Strategy, which aims to: expand green and future-focused industries (especially green hydrogen), increase the industrial sector’s contribution to GDP, and launch the “Egypt Digital Industrial Platform” to streamline procedures and improve the business environment. Abdelatty traveled to Riyadh on Thursday, September 18, to hold several meetings with senior officials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to a statement from the Egyptian ministry.
The official visit comes within the framework of the two countries’ shared commitment to continuing consultation and coordination on various bilateral cooperation issues, strengthening integration mechanisms between Egypt and Saudi Arabia in various fields. The visit reflects the deep-rooted historical relations and close ties that unite Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
