Trade between Egypt, Saudi Arabia hits $7.5 billion
The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Saudi Arabia reached $7.3 billion, according to Saudi Minister of Trade and Investment Majed bin Abdullah al-Qasabi.
Qasabi referred at the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council in the presence of Egyptian Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker that Saudi direct investments in Egypt exceeded $3.4 billion, adding that the number of Saudi firms in Egypt reached 5,000.
According to latest bulletin issued by Egypt’s state-owned statistic agency CAMPAS during the January-August 2018 period, Egyptian imports from Saudi Arabia amounted to $3.781 billion, ranking the second country Egypt imports from after China with $6.244 billion.
Imports from Saudi Arabia allocated 7.4 percent of Egypt’s total imports during the first eight months of 2018, marking an increase of 40.9 percent compared to the same period of 2017.
The main commodities imported from Saudi Arabia include fuel, plastics, aluminum and organic chemical products, according to the foreign trade bulletin.
The bulletin revealed that imports of fuel accounted for the largest share of the total value of imports from the kingdom by $2.6 billion during the first eight months of 2018.
As per the exports, Egypt’s exports to Saudi Arabia recorded $929.5 million during January-to-August period, bringing the trade exchange between the two states to $4.7 billion during the eight months.
Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Sisi received on Nov.26Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman upon his arrival at Cairo International Airport.
This is the second official visit of the Saudi crown prince to Egypt after his three-day visit in March, when bin Salman and Sisi signed four agreements on the first day of the price’s visit to Egypt.
The deals included a cooperation agreement, signed between the Egyptian Environment Ministry and its Saudi counterpart, in the field of environmental protection and slashing pollution.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Egyptian Investment and International Cooperation Ministry inked a deal to launch Saudi-Egyptian investment fund.
The Egyptian General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) and Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) also signed a cooperation agreement for boosting investments.
Source: Egypt Today
