CAIRO — Minister of Commerce and Acting Minister of Media Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi affirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims to be the first trading partner of the Arab Republic of Egypt during the next five years, and to strengthen all ties of neighborhood and harness them to serve this trend. In a joint press conference with Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea at the conclusion of the 17th session of the Saudi-Egyptian Joint Committee here, Dr. Al-Qasabi said he was honored to be in Egypt to convey the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy prime minister and minister of defense, to the Egyptian leadership and people. He pointed to the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to work on strengthening economic ties in a way that reflects the aspirations of the two leaderships and peoples. The minister said that there are 6,285 Saudi companies operating in Egypt with investments exceeding $30 billion and there are many opportunities for investment in Egypt, pointing out that there are 285 brands and more than 518 Egyptian companies in the Saudi markets that operate in several fields.“There is no doubt that the investment is the result of an attractive investment environment and promising opportunities, which we have seen today from Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea, and we have noticed that there is a seriousness in removing all challenges facing investors,” Al-Qasabi said in his statement at the conclusion of the joint committee session following the signing of the minutes of its meeting. He added that there are new promising opportunities for the Saudi and Egyptian investors as well as promising investments for the Saudi government in Egypt. For her part, Gamea affirmed that she was directed by Egyptian President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi to take all measures that would remove all challenges hindering trade exchange and economic development between Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian minister expressed her hope to sustain joint meetings between the two countries due to the positive results for the two sides, especially after a forced pause of the joint meetings last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. — SPA