Egypt ranked seventh as the largest commodity export market to the Saudi nation

Egyptian goods to Saudi Arabia exceeded $2.478 billion over the past year

photo_camera PHOTO/ARCHIVO - Street stalls selling Egyptian products in a souk, Cairo

Egypt's Ministry of Trade and Industry has claimed that the total volume of merchandise exports from the Egyptian country to Saudi Arabia exceeded $2.478bn in the past year 2021. During a meeting with the Saudi country's Minister of Trade Dr Majid bin Abdullah al-Qasabi, Egypt's Minister of Trade Nevin Jameh said that the North African country has placed seventh in the ranking of the largest future markets for exports to Saudi Arabia of commodities.

Dr Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi later told a press briefing that "this great cooperation is due to the consensus of visions between the leaderships of the two countries, and the great efforts made by the governments of Egypt and Saudi Arabia to support joint cooperation frameworks in various fields and at all levels".

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In response, Jameh said that the meeting reviewed files of common interest between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, especially the continued growth of trade relations between the two countries, which was reflected in the Saudi country's ranking as the second largest future market for Egyptian commodity exports during 2021, totalling $1.994bn. 

During his speech, the Egyptian Minister of Trade highlighted the good results of the first meeting of the follow-up team to the 17th session of the Joint Committee, which was held in the Saudi capital last March, and emphasised the team's "commitment to continue communication to activate the recommendations of the meeting in various fields of cooperation".

In the framework of this meeting, the Egyptian minister explained that "during the meeting it was agreed to hold an expanded investment forum in Cairo to review the investment opportunities available in the Egyptian market for Saudi private sector men, and contribute to the establishment of joint projects between investors in the two countries, with priority given to existing Saudi investors in Egypt who are keen to establish expansions for their projects" as reported by the Saudi media Al-Arabiya.

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During his speech, Jameh, presented a list of the most important facilities provided by the Ministry in this regard, such as allowing the allocation of land on a usufruct basis at the cost of seizure and facilitating the procedures for issuing industrial registration and licenses. In addition, the Egyptian minister stressed the possibility of establishing an Egyptian-Saudi axis around industrial partnerships in labour-intensive sectors, such as ready-made garments, furniture and textiles, in industrial areas, in order to reduce the costs of importing these products to the Saudi market.

From the Saudi side, the Minister of Trade affirmed the North African country's interest in enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries at different levels reflecting the strategic bilateral relations linking Cairo and Riyadh, noting that Egypt enjoys a special status among all the peoples of the Arab countries. He added that Egypt "now possesses all the ingredients that qualify it to be an investment hub that attracts foreign and Arab investment, especially after the great development in the field of infrastructure, as well as the recently announced decisions by the government to facilitate the investment system in various sectors".

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